EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 15 Northwestern mounted a furious second half comeback, but fell short against No. 6 Penn State, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at Martin Stadium.
Despite trailing 4-1 at the half, the Wildcats closed the gap to one in the second period with 12 minutes to go and just could not find an equalizer. Their record moved to 8-8 and 3-4 in the Big Ten with one conference game to play.
Junior Saar de Breij, first year Maren Seidel and senior Charlotte Vaziri scored the three goals for the 'Cats with Puck Pentenga, Eva van Agt and Kirsten Mansfield all picking up an assist.
Pentenga notched her 40th career assist, while remaining in third place all-time on the assists list in program history. Her season point total stands at 28, the fourth highest total in the conference.
Junior Annie Kalfas started in goal and made six saves, her second highest total of the season since making nine against Boston College on Sept. 2.
Northwestern opened the match with one of its best starts of the season. In the fifth minute, sophomore Lakin Barry pounced on a loose ball and took a shot that was blocked by the Nittany Lion keeper at close range. De Breij collected the rebound and chipped it into an open net to make it 1-0.
Penn State responded with an ten minutes later with a two-goal burst, scoring in the 15th and 17th minute to flip the scorelines to 2-1 in their favor. They added another in the 30th minute and a fourth on an untimed penalty corner at the end of the first half to make it 4-1.
Northwestern fought back with one of the best halves of its season. In the 40th minute on a penalty corner, the 'Cats feigned a Vaziri shot and had Pentenga send the ball in from a different angle that Seidel was able to deflect into the net to make it 4-2.
The Wildcats kept coming and earned another penalty corner in the 58th minute. The usual service from Mansfield and van Agt went to Vaziri, who this time blasted it herself, taking a wicked bounce off the turf into the net to make it a one goal game at 4-3.
Northwestern pushed again and again for the coveted fourth goal, but came up short on its two penalty corners after Vaziri's strike. Despite pulling the goalkeeper with 2:08 to go, Penn State managed the rest of the match.
The #B1GCats return to action this week with their last Big Ten contest on the road at No. 2 Maryland on Friday at 2 p.m. They then return to Evanston for Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 21 against Ball State.
Despite trailing 4-1 at the half, the Wildcats closed the gap to one in the second period with 12 minutes to go and just could not find an equalizer. Their record moved to 8-8 and 3-4 in the Big Ten with one conference game to play.
Junior Saar de Breij, first year Maren Seidel and senior Charlotte Vaziri scored the three goals for the 'Cats with Puck Pentenga, Eva van Agt and Kirsten Mansfield all picking up an assist.
Pentenga notched her 40th career assist, while remaining in third place all-time on the assists list in program history. Her season point total stands at 28, the fourth highest total in the conference.
Junior Annie Kalfas started in goal and made six saves, her second highest total of the season since making nine against Boston College on Sept. 2.
Northwestern opened the match with one of its best starts of the season. In the fifth minute, sophomore Lakin Barry pounced on a loose ball and took a shot that was blocked by the Nittany Lion keeper at close range. De Breij collected the rebound and chipped it into an open net to make it 1-0.
Penn State responded with an ten minutes later with a two-goal burst, scoring in the 15th and 17th minute to flip the scorelines to 2-1 in their favor. They added another in the 30th minute and a fourth on an untimed penalty corner at the end of the first half to make it 4-1.
Northwestern fought back with one of the best halves of its season. In the 40th minute on a penalty corner, the 'Cats feigned a Vaziri shot and had Pentenga send the ball in from a different angle that Seidel was able to deflect into the net to make it 4-2.
The Wildcats kept coming and earned another penalty corner in the 58th minute. The usual service from Mansfield and van Agt went to Vaziri, who this time blasted it herself, taking a wicked bounce off the turf into the net to make it a one goal game at 4-3.
Northwestern pushed again and again for the coveted fourth goal, but came up short on its two penalty corners after Vaziri's strike. Despite pulling the goalkeeper with 2:08 to go, Penn State managed the rest of the match.
The #B1GCats return to action this week with their last Big Ten contest on the road at No. 2 Maryland on Friday at 2 p.m. They then return to Evanston for Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 21 against Ball State.