No. 5 Penn State field hockey (3-1) bounced back from a loss to Princeton on Tuesday with an 8-0 rout of Kent State (1-5) at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.

Seven different Nittany Lions scored goals on Friday afternoon, including two from senior Aurelia Meijer. Moira Putsch, Gini Bramley, Abby Myers, Emma Spisak, Alexis Horst, and Meghan Reese all found the back of the net in a bounce-back effort for the team.

Penn State outshot the Golden Eagles 27-9 en route to its largest victory of the 2018 season.

How It Happened

Penn State was dominant throughout Friday afternoon, opening the scoring just over ten minutes into the game. Alexis Horst’s first goal of the season opened the scoring and gave Penn State a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

Kent State managed to fend off Penn State’s attack throughout the middle of the first half, but two goals in 1:08 put the Nittany Lions up by three entering halftime. Abby Myers scored her first goal of the season with 13:20 to play in the half and was quickly followed by Gini Bramley’s second of the season.

Penn State held a 10-4 advantage in shots at halftime, but clinical finishing that’s been missing through the first three games of the season gave the Nittany Lions a comfortable three-goal lead.

Senior forward Aurelia Meijer smothered any thoughts of a Kent State comeback within the first two minutes of the second half. She buried her second goal of the season 69 seconds into the half, and she scored another 38 seconds later to put Penn State up by five goals.

Meijer’s two scores came after she tallied assists on each of Penn State’s first two goals of the game. She now leads the Nittany Lions with three goals and is tied with two of her teammates for the team lead in assists with two.

Sophomore midfielder Emma Spisak added her first goal of her career with just over 20 minutes remaining in Friday’s game. Meghan Reese and Emily Klingler picked up the assists on No. 4’s first tally as a Nittany Lion.

After scoring 21 goals in 22 games last season, senior Moira Putsch finally opened her goal-scoring account for the 2018 season with 14:34 to play in today’s game.

Freshman Meghan Reese’s first career goal extended Penn State’s lead to eight with just over six minutes remaining, putting the finishing touches on a dominant home performance for Char Morett-Curtiss’ squad.

Player Of The Game

Aurelia Meijer | Senior | Midfielder

The Dutch midfielder created two goals in the first half, then scored two of her own early on in the second to put any thoughts of a Kent State comeback to bed.

What’s Next

Penn State will be back in action on Sunday in Philadelphia for a neutral-site game against Duke. The game will begin at 10:30 a.m.