No. 16 Penn State field hockey (7-7, 2-4 Big Ten) was shut out by No. 1 Northwestern (14-1, 6-0 Big Ten) 2-0 in a dogfight battle between two of the 2022 Final Four teams.

Northwestern scored the first goal of the contest four minutes into the game and added a second goal with four minutes remaining in the game. It’s the fourth Big Ten loss on the year for the Nittany Lions who are now .500 for the third time this year.

How It Happened

As the game began, both teams brought the pressure right away. Penn State threatened right from the start, however, Northwestern stopped the early attack. The Wildcats took over and were awarded the first two penalty corners of the game. Corner No. 1 was unsuccessful, though the second corner resulted in the first goal of the evening by Lauren Wadas.

The remainder of the first quarter saw the Nittany Lions unable to tie the game on any of their three shots on goal as the Wildcats led 1-0 after the first 15 minutes.

During the first minute of the second quarter, the Nittany Lions had their opportunity to score with their first penalty corner of the day. Northwestern goalie Annabel Skubisz denied Sophia Gladieux’s shot with a fantastic save to keep the game 1-0.

Later in the quarter during another Penn State corner, Gladieux smoked a goal into the back of the net, however, the ref deemed the shot too high and called back the goal. The Wildcats held on to keep the lead heading into the half.

In the second half, the intensity remained high for both teams and neither squad allowed the other to score. It wasn’t until late in the third quarter that Penn State had an opportunity to score with a penalty corner. Mackenzie Allessie’s shot was blocked once again by Skubisz, keeping Northwestern ahead by one heading into the final 15 minutes.

The fourth quarter began with two penalty corners for the Nittany Lions. Both didn’t end the way Penn State wanted as both resulted in no goals. Later in the quarter, Northwestern was awarded a penalty corner and Wadas found the back of the net once again to make it a two-goal game. Northwestern held on to win 2-0.

Takeaways

• The offense just couldn’t find its way past the Wildcats’ goalie Annabel Skubisz, who played an outstanding game. Penn State was denied every single opportunity to score throughout the game going 0-for-8 on shots.
• Despite allowing an early goal, Brie Barraco once again had an outstanding day in net, making four saves and keeping it a one-goal game for the majority of the game.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will stay at home and take on the No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes at noon on Sunday, October 22, at Char Morett-Curtiss Field. The game can be streamed on BTN+.