A Big Ten title could very well be in the cards for Penn State.
That’s because the No. 7 field hockey team stormed past No. 21 Ohio State on Friday, defeating the Buckeyes 3-0 in Columbus, Ohio.
The victory propelled the Nittany Lions into a tie with No. 8 Northwestern for first place in the Big Ten, with each team sporting a 4-1-conference record.
“It worked out well,” head coach Charlene Morett said. “I think the team stepped up and played much better defensively in the second half…and it was great to get a shutout on the road against a strong Ohio State team.”
Rainy conditions pelted the pitch throughout the contest, but it didn’t slow down Penn State’s offense, which looked to be in control once again.
Senior forward Kelsey Amy scored her 20th and 21st goals of the season to pace the Lions. She was aided in large part by junior midfielder Whitney Reddig, who assisted on both of Amy’s goals to give her a team-leading 14 on the season.
Defensive back Brittany Grzywacz also got on the scoring sheet, as she scored off a penalty corner or her 10th goal of the season.
The Lions’ dominance on offense would again reflect in the score-sheet, as they out shot the Buckeyes 21-8 and earned 12 penalty corners to a mere five for Ohio State.
But Ohio State repeatedly challenged the Lions’ defense as the contest went on. Goalkeeper Ayla Halus helped keep the shutout, as her three saves and excellent defense on penalty corners consistently frustrated the Buckeyes.
With the victory, the Lions find themselves in a position to potentially win the Big Ten title, although Northwestern owns a tie-breaker by having defeated Penn State 5-4 in overtime earlier in the season.
The Lions will return home to face non-conference opponent Bucknell on Tuesday before hitting the road one more time to take on No. 20 Michigan State on Friday for the final game of the regular season.
To email reporter: mps5230@psu.edu
