No. 15 Penn State field hockey (7-5, 2-2 Big Ten) shut out Michigan State (3-9, 1-5 Big Ten) 4-0 Friday night in a Big Ten battle.

The Nittany Lions were in full control from the start of the game and scored goals in all four quarters of the game to pick up their seventh win on the year and second consecutive Big Ten win.

How It Happened

Right away, the Spartans came to play, threatening to score multiple times in the first few minutes of the game. Michigan State was awarded the first penalty corner of the game but a nice save from Brie Barraco prevented the Spartans from scoring.

However, a penalty in the circle by Penn State gave Michigan State another chance to score with a penalty stroke. Lena Kassel was the shooter for the Spartans, however Barraco made another great save to keep the game tied.

Midway through the first quarter, the Nittany Lions found the back of the net by way of Sophia Gladieux. Julia Lamb set up Gladieux with a wide-open shot for her 14th goal of the year.

The remainder of the first quarter didn’t see much action from either team. Heading into quarter two, both teams got an early penalty corner but both failed to execute.

Penn State was awarded another corner midway through the quarter and after a scrum for the ball, Julienne van Bekkum got a shot past Michigan State goalie Cecily Charles for her first goal as a Nittany Lion.

In the second half, Penn State continued to hold on to its two-goal lead, however, Mackenzie Allessie wanted a bigger lead. Allessie found a way to sneak a shot past Charles into the net to make it 3-0 in favor of Penn State.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Penn State continued to play great defense and denied the Spartans from scoring in the contest. Leading by three, Gladieux decided to make it four and scored once again for goal No. 15 on the season.

After that goal, the Nittany Lions continued to fight strong and play outstanding defense to hold the shutout and beat the Spartans 4-0.

Takeaways

• It’s like a broken record, but Sophia Gladieux led the squad yet again. The senior scored her 14th and 15th goals of the season picking up her fourth multi-goal game of the season.
• Julienne van Bekkum scored goal No. 1 as a Nittany Lion. The grad student from the Netherlands scored her first career NCAA goal and first in a Nittany Lion uniform midway through the second quarter.
• It was another great performance from Brie Barraco and the Nittany Lion defense. They picked up their second shutout win of the year, and it’s another great performance for the defense after last week’s win against Ohio State.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will remain in the midwest and take on the No. 16 Michigan Wolverines at 1 p.m. on Sunday, October 15. Folks can tune into the broadcast on Big Ten Network.