April 21, 2002
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In what has to be considered their best effort of the season, the Northwestern women's lacrosse team gave 15th-ranked Penn State all it could handle on Sunday afternoon at PSU's Jeffrey Field -- and then some.
Playing in miserable conditions, the teams battled back and forth nearly the entire way, with the youthful Wildcats scrappily giving the much more experienced Nittany Lions (10 players were honored on Senior Day before the game) fits. In the end, though, Penn State scored four of the game's last five goals to pull away and survive the scare.
Sarah Albrecht (Braintree, Mass./Thayer Academy) had a spectacular game for the Wildcats, seemingly keeping them in it all by herself at times. She finished with three goals and three assists for a six-point outing, the best by an NU player this season. The Flynn twins, Courtney Flynn (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) and Erin Flynn (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle), had two goals apiece while Courtney Koester (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) added a goal and an assist.
Penn State jumped quickly on the Wildcats, scoring three of the game's first four goals before the contest was four minutes old. However, the pace slowed down considerably after that, which played into NU's hands. Erin Flynn knocked home her first of the day on an Albrecht feed at the 8:31 mark, and less than a minute later Courtney Flynn converted a free-position effort to tie the game at 3-3.
Penn State added two goals to again go up, but Northwestern responded with goals from Jenna Gantner (Long Valley, N.J./Chester) and Koester. PSU regained the lead, 6-5, with 8:49 left in the first half, and it stayed that way until Albrecht was awarded a free-position shot with three seconds left. She made good on the shot, tying the score at the break and setting the stage for an emotionally charged second half.
More than nine minutes passed before a Nittany Lion goal opened the second-half scoring. Five minutes later, though, Courtney Flynn took an Albrecht feed in the middle and fired home the tying goal. PSU answered back with goals just 2:06 apart to take a 9-7 lead, and the feeling began to arise that maybe the Lions had finally vanquished their younger opponent.
Not so. Albrecht made a nice individual effort to make the score 9-8 with 9:43 to play, and less than a minute later Erin Flynn came around from behind the goal and patiently made her way around to the front, where she deposited a six-yard shot into the PSU net. Suddenly, the game was tied again, 9-9, and 8:50 was left on the clock.
NU controlled the ensuing draw, but a set play broke down on a missed pass in front. Penn State took advantage, going the length of the field and scoring with 5:46 to play. Forty-six seconds later, the Lion lead was back up to two (11-9).
NU had one final charge, as Albrecht again used an individual effort to score her third of the game. But a visibly tired Wildcat squad could not contain Penn State down the stretch, as the Lions opened the lead back up to 12-10 on a free-position shot with 2:56 to play and then iced the contest with four seconds to play with one final goal.
Ashley Gersuk (Loudonville, N.Y./Albany Academy) had six saves in the NU goal.
The Wildcats are back in action Thursday afternoon, hosting nationally ranked Notre Dame at Lakeside Field. It is the first of two home games NU will have to end the 2002 season.
Score by Half
Northwestern 6 4 - 10
Penn State 6 7 - 13
Goals
Northwestern: Albrecht 3, C. Flynn 2, E. Flynn 2, McCann, Gantner, C. Koester.
Penn State: N/A.
Assists
Northwestern: Albrecht 3, C. Koester.
Penn State: N/A.
Goalie Saves
Northwestern: Gersuk 6.
Penn State: Tortorelli 7.
Shots on Goal: Penn State 24, Northwestern 14
Free Position: Northwestern 2/2, Penn State 5/5
Ground Balls: Northwestern 19, Penn State 11
Caused Turnovers: Penn State 10, Northwestern 6
Fouls: Northwestern 17, Penn State 9
Records
Northwestern 5-8, 2-3 ALC
Penn State 6-7, 3-1 ALC