Weekend Sports Roundup: Wrestling, Volleyball Pick Up Two Wins Each
While you may have focused on the football team’s dominating win over Purdue, nine other Penn State teams were in action this weekend too. It was a bit of a rough weekend for the Nittany Lions as a whole, as only four of the nine teams picked up wins. Here’s what went down:
Men’s Soccer:
The No. 16 men’s soccer team was upset by Indiana on Friday when it lost 5-3 on penalty kicks after each team went scoreless for 90 minutes. It was the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
The Nittany Lions had five shots on goal, but were unable to crack the Hoosiers. Penn State’s best scoring chance came in the sixth minute, when Owen Griffith received a cross in the box but just couldn’t get the ball past Hoosier goaltender Colin Webb.
The men’s soccer team now awaits Monday’s NCAA tournament selection.
Women’s Hockey:
The women’s hockey team dropped two tough games at RIT this weekend, losing 2-1 and 3-2.
In the first matchup, Taylor Gross got the Nittany Lions on the board first but that was all the offense Penn State could muster. Goaltender Nicole Paniccia was solid in net for the Nittany Lions, as she turned aside 36 of the 38 shots she faced, but the offense never came and Penn State lost the first game of the series.
The Nittany Lions once again had an early lead in part two of the series as Penn State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with two goals from Jill Holdcroft. One of Holdcroft’s goals was shorthanded, which was the first in program history.
However, RIT was able to score three unanswered goals and that was all the Tigers needed. Penn State goaltender Celine Whitlinger had 37 saves in the loss.
The team moves to 2-11-1 on the year and plays Lindenwood this Friday. It’ll be looking to snap the current eight game losing streak.
Women’s Volleyball:
Despite facing two ranked teams this weekend, the No. 2 women’s volleyball team had no problem beating both Wisconsin and Minnesota in straight sets.
Sophomore Megan Courtney led the Nittany Lions to a straight-set win (25-23, 27-25, 25-16) against No. 14 Wisconsin Friday night with 15 kills, 11 digs, and two blocks. Micha Hancock also had a double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs.
Penn State was able to cruise to another straight-set victory (25-20, 25-17, 25-23) against No. 11 Minnesota on Saturday. Hancock paced the Nittany Lions with 41 assists, four kills, four blocks, and four digs. She also tallied her 235th career ace at Penn State, which moves her into a first place tie for most aces at Penn State.
Penn State moves to 24-2 on the year and will take on Northwestern this Friday in Happy Valley.
Women’s Soccer:
The women’s soccer team moved on to the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday after defeating Monmouth 3-o. Tani Costa paved the way for the the fourth-seeded Nittany Lions with two goals. Whitney Church put the game out of reach with a goal in the 67th minute. Penn State goaltender Britt Eckerstrom recorded six saves in the win.
Penn State will play Wake Forest in the second round next Friday in Charlottesville, Va.
Men’s Hockey:
The men’s hockey team suffered a 3-2 loss to No. 16 UMass-Lowell on Friday night at Pegula after losing the first game of the series on Thursday 4-0. Penn State winger Eric Scheid was able to make it a 1-1 game in the first period with a power play goal, but the River Hawks opened the floodgates by adding two more before the first period ended.
David Goodwin made things interesting, scoring a goal with seven minutes left in the third period, but the Nittany Lions were unable to add another before time ran out. Freshman Eamon McAdam had 41 saves in the loss. Penn State drops to 3-5-1 on the year and will take on Union twelve days from now in Pegula.
Men’s Basketball:
After a tough loss to Bucknell, the men’s basketball team was able pick up a solid 83-71 win against Penn this Saturday. Tim Frazier led the way with 29 points and D.J. Newbill contributed 19 in the winning effort.
The Nittany Lions never trailed in this game as they shot 59.4% from the field in the first half. Penn State also had a 33-28 rebound advantage over Penn. The team is now 2-1 on the year and faces La Salle at the BJC on Tuesday.
Field Hockey:
The field hockey team’s season came to an unfortunate end on Saturday with a crushing 5-4 defeat to Princeton in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Taylor Herold, Whitney Reddig, Ashtin Klingler, and Brittany Grzywacz all had goals for Penn State, but it wasn’t enough to ultimately overcome the Tigers.
Penn State finishes the season with a 13-6 record.
Wrestling:
The No. 1 ranked wrestling team opened it’s season on Saturday with a 34-8 win over Rider. The squad won eight out of ten bouts in a convincing victory.
David Taylor had a dominating win over Rider’s Ramon Santiago as he recorded his fifth pin out in six bouts this year. It was also the 42nd pin of his career.
The wrestling team picked up another win Sunday afternoon, this time a 22-12 win over Lehigh. The Nittany Lions won six bouts and David Taylor notched his 100th career bonus point win.
The Nittany Lions return to action next Sunday against Lock Haven in Rec Hall. No word yet on when Ed Ruth will return from his suspension.
Women’s Basketball:
The No. 13 Lady Lions were overmatched by No. 1 UConn Sunday afternoon in a 71-52 loss to the Huskies. Maggie Lucas had 18 points in the loss and became the sixth player in program history to eclipse the 1,900 point mark.
The Lady Lions were plagued by poor shooting in the first half and could never recover from a 37-22 halftime deficit. Penn State reduced UConn’s lead to nine with five minutes left, but that’s as close as the Lady Lions could get.
The loss snapped Penn State’s 22-game home winning streak, which was good for third in the nation. The Lady Lions are now 3-1 on the year and will face Bucknell at the BJC this Wednesday.
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