No. 16 Penn State field hockey bounces back, beats Michigan State 2-1 in overtime

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Coming off a 6-0 home loss to Michigan, the 16th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey squad looked to bounce back on senior day against another opponent from the Great Lakes State in the Michigan State Spartans.

“With it being senior day, that should be motivation,” said Penn State Head Coach Lisa Bervinchak Love. “Our seniors have given a lot to this program. They’ve been committed, they play with heart, they’re great teammates, they care about this team and they care about Penn State.”

The Nittany Lions and Spartans both entered the contest at 7-7 on the season. Similar to Penn State, the Spartans also came off of a shutout loss by a 2-0 score at Rutgers on Friday night.

From the opening whistle, both sides struggled to maintain possession until Spartans’ freshman Carmen Pucheta found a lane and opened the scoring with a goal 3:51 into the first quarter.

Phia Gladieux, who recently became Penn State’s all-time points leader, sailed a shot wide at the 7:18 mark as the Nittany Lions fought to generate offense.

Penn State would total four shots in the first quarter as the Spartans maintained their lead going into the second frame.

An awkward bounce near the cage at the 19:27 mark initially went Penn State’s way, leading to an Ella Jennes goal. However, it was ultimately overturned upon review.

Penn State would receive more scoring opportunities on three consecutive corners. The third corner was ultimately cleared by Michigan State, preserving the Spartans' lead.

A shot from junior Morgan McMenamin 26:41 into the game sailed wide. The shot was the Nittany Lions' tenth of the first half.

The Michigan State defense held off the Nittany Lions all the way to the half. Penn State closed out the first half with 11 shots, three of which were on goal, while the Spartans totaled four shots, all on goal.

The Spartans rode their first-half momentum into the second half as Spartans’ senior Ellie Rutherford launched a shot within the first two minutes of the half that was saved by Lauren Delgado. Ellie Wheatley sailed a Spartan shot wide only 14 seconds later.

Penn State racked up more corners in the third quarter that were taken by Julienne van Bekkum and McMenamin. Gladieux ripped three consecutive shots that were all saved by Spartans goalkeeper Lyra Gavino.

The Nittany Lions spent much of the third quarter in their attacking third but still could not find the back of the cage as the Spartans held on to their one-goal lead going into the fourth quarter.

Penn State would continue to inhabit Michigan State’s defensive third in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, tallying two more shots from Natalie Freeman and McMenamin.

The Nittany Lions' fight finally paid off as the team found the back of the net at the 52:17 mark on a goal from van Bekkum, tying the game at one apiece.

The Nittany Lions would catch a huge break shortly after their first score as Serena Mailhe was assessed with a yellow card with just over five minutes remaining.

The Spartans and Nittany Lions would battle it out for the final five minutes of the regulation. Penn State was ultimately unable to capitalize on Mailhe’s yellow card as the game moved into overtime.

The Happy Valley crowd was in for a show in the overtime period as Gladieux would be set up with a one-on-one opportunity with Gavino early. The sophomore goalkeeper came up clutch with what was, at the time, a game-saving stop.

Penn State kept shooting until a high shot from Jennes found the back of the cage, sealing a big 2-1 home win for the blue and white.

By the game’s conclusion, Penn State amassed 34 shots compared to Michigan State’s seven. The Nittany Lions also totaled 18 corners while the Spartans had four.

Reflecting on the high number of shots, Love remarked, “After we had our first 10 shots I thought this is going to be one of those days where we’re going to attack and get the shots and we’re not going to find the back of the cage. There’s just days like that where everything’s moving, we’re passing the ball and we get those opportunities and we just miss by a little bit.”

The Nittany Lions’ goal scorers, Jennes and van Bekkum, addressed the win as a whole. Jennes said, “We needed to work for each other, it’s senior day. We needed to win for our seniors and also for ourselves. I think we knew we needed to work hard. We had to work together and be connected. I feel that we had that on and off but we worked together in overtime which is the most important part.”

“We knew we needed this win. We knew we needed to go out hard. We knew we needed to compete and I feel like we did that,” said van Bekkum.

An 8-7 Penn State team moves on to play Rutgers in Piscataway on Friday at 2 o’clock while Michigan State, a team still searching for their first conference win, will host Iowa on Friday at 3 p.m.

Isaac Hallock is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email idh5055@psu.edu.