After a long stretch on the road, Penn State women’s lacrosse (6-4, 2-0 Big Ten) returned home to an energetic Panzer Stadium crowd late Friday night for a 14-13 overtime victory over No. 1 Northwestern (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten). Tonight’s win marked the first program victory over a No. 1 seed since 2005.

Kristin O’Neill had an absolutely electric night from all ends of the field, including her overtime victory goal. She contributed a total of six goals to tonight’s historical win and was a key contributor to the dominance exhibited.

How It Happened

The Wildcats secured the opening draw and advanced the ball to their offensive end. Their first shot on goal resulted in a crease violation, and the ball was headed the other way in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Kristin O’Neill dumped a quick one in between the legs of Northwestern goalie Molly Laliberty. Penn State took an early lead only two minutes into the evening.

Northwestern answered moments after with a shot from Dylan Amonte. The game stood at a tie and set the tone for a back-and-forth battle.

The Nittany Lions moved the ball around fluidly on their offensive end, and a wicked drive down the center of the eight-meter from Kayla Abernathy put another one up on the scoreboard. Penn State took the lead 2-1.

ABERNATHY SCORES!

Q1 11:35 | PSU 2, NU 1 pic.twitter.com/yYcvES3zvG

— Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) March 23, 2024

After securing the ball again, a few missed shot attempts plagued the possession until Payton Wainman took control. The sophomore attacker rocketed in an unassisted shot to continue the momentum for the Nittany Lions.

A quick sidearm shot from Northwestern narrowed the gap with around nine minutes to play. Penn State secured its first draw control of the game but couldn’t possess the ball on offense. The offensive unit turned the ball over, and Ellie Holland received a yellow card on the other end.

Two saves on the defensive end for goalie Ashley Bowman sent the ball in the other direction. With a green card for Northwestern, both teams were down a player on the field.

Back at full strength a minute later, Northwestern capitalized and Izzy Scane racked up her 38th goal of the season to tie the game up at three.

Coming out of the first media timeout, O’Neill and Brooke Hoss both fired shots on goal but were unsuccessful. Northwestern failed to complete on its own offensive end as well, and the teams began trading possessions.

Northwestern’s Emerson Bohlingi went in with a slash as the ball transitioned through the midfield, granting her a two-minute yellow card as the first quarter dwindled to a close. The game remained tied at 3-3.

The second quarter opened with a bang. Wainman gained a green card moving down the field, and the teams possessed an even amount on the field. Off of a quick drive, Northwestern’s Erin Coykendall gave the Wildcats a lead at 4-3.

Northwestern aimed to keep its energy going with another goal, putting the Wildcats up by two with over 12 minutes to go in the first half. They secured the following draw control but were swiftly denied by Bowman in the cage.

O’Neill earned a free position shot on the other end, but it went high. The Nittany Lions couldn’t convert before the shot clock expired, and the Wildcats scooped the ball up and pushed transition hard. Off of a long look, Amonte dished it in, widening the score to 6-3. A Penn State timeout was called to reconvene.

The Wildcats secured the draw after the timeout, but it wasn’t long until Sammy Dupcak forced a turnover. Going the other way, Abernathy’s free position shot was saved and the ball headed back to the Northwestern end.

Both teams continued to trade forced turnovers and shot attempts. With 5:31 to play, Northwestern was granted a free position shot. Off of a pass around, the ball bounced into the right-hand corner of the goal, and Scane added another goal to her tally. The Wildcats led 7-3 with six straight unanswered goals.

After a few missed shot attempts from the offensive unit, O’Neill found the net and placed her second goal of the night past Laliberty. The Nittany Lions trailed by three with a little over three minutes to play in the first half.

Penn State’s Erika Ho executed a beautiful man-up goal off of a quick feed from Gretchen Gilmore. The Nittany Lions attempted to reinsert themselves back into the matchup as the score narrowed to 7-5.

The half came to a close with the score remaining at 7-5 in favor of Northwestern.

Northwestern dominated the draw control to begin the second half. Just over a minute in, Penn State gained control of the ball and Gilmore moved effortlessly around the crease and stuffed the ball down low. The game now rested on a one-goal margin.

The free position attempt from Northwestern’s Madison Taylor was clean and the Wildcats upped their lead to 8-6. The free position mania continued and Meghan Murray ripped one high right. The Nittany Lions refused to let the Wildcats gain a large lead.

Not even a minute later, Penn State tied the game up 8-8 for the first time since the first quarter. Off of a feed from up high from Abernathy, Kelly MacKinney cut around the crease and dumped the ball in the back of the net.

Momentum picked up all around, as the Wildcats put up another goal of their own from far out. With a little over eight minutes to play in the third quarter, the action wasn’t slowing down whatsoever.

The teams traded missed opportunities back and forth up until Abernathy drilled another into the goal. This gave the Nittany Lions the perfect boost headed into the media timeout.

The Wildcats clinched the following draw and some scuffle and penalties all around, it was Penn State ball headed in the opposite direction. O’Neill handled a perfect feed from Kara Nealon and sent the ball to the back left corner of the net. Penn State took the lead 10-9 with 2:30 to play in the third quarter.

Scane rocketed another goal in for Northwestern with over a minute to go and the game was tied again. The Wildcats called a timeout to reset for the remaining time in the third. The timeout was almost effective but deflected from the goal as the clock expired.

A BIG save by Syd Manning to end the third quarter!

Q3 | PSU 10, NU 10 pic.twitter.com/e2f4Nrznsq

— Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) March 23, 2024

The score was tied up at 10 with the final 15 minutes ahead of both teams.

Northwestern came up unlucky on its first shot attempt of the quarter, and the Nittany Lions took their possession opportunity as a chance to capitalize. Abernathy breezed past her defender one-on-one and took the ball to the back of the cage. Penn State led 11-10 with 13:46 to play.

ABERNATHY SCORES AGAIN!

Q4 13:45 | PSU 11, NU 10 pic.twitter.com/O7oP5QG8qT

— Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) March 23, 2024

The Wildcats answered again with a quick cut through the middle of the eight-meter. This tallied Scane’s fourth goal of the night.

Sydney Manning came through with a save for Penn State. Relentless defense from both ends stalled the scoring for both teams for a little bit, and the aggression continued and penalties were being thrown around left and right.

With 6:28 left to play, O’Neill landed her fourth goal of the night off of a free position shot to put the Nittany Lions up 12-11. A free position from Scane two minutes later tied the game up again heading into a media timeout.

O’Neill set up for a free position shot, and on brand, executed it with class. This marked her fifth goal of the night, and Penn State took the lead 13-12 with three minutes left to play.

Northwestern didn’t let the Nittany Lions walk away with it, and it answered with a goal to tie it back up 13-13. The energy and cheers from the crowd echoed throughout the stadium as the final minute of play got underway. The Penn State coaching staff called a timeout to recuperate.

The Nittany Lions couldn’t get a shot off as the clock dwindled down, and regulation came to a close with a 13-13 tie while a three-minute period of sudden-death overtime was slated to begin.

Northwestern came up with the overtime draw and carried the ball to its offensive end. Manning came up with a save off of the shot attempt, and the Penn State defensive unit worked together to transition the ball upfield.

O’Neill drove to the goal and shooting space was called, issuing her a free position shot. She produced and slammed the ball into the back of the cage, and the Nittany Lions upset No. 1 Northwestern and secured the victory 14-13 in overtime.

Winners are bred in Happy Valley pic.twitter.com/FCqKKRiSzo

— Onward State (@OnwardState) March 23, 2024

Takeaways

• There was an extremely high volume of yellow and green cards issued tonight. This speaks to the physicality and intensity that each team played. Both squads also needed to utilize their man-up offensive and defensive rotations to combat this.
• Both Northwestern’s Madison Taylor and Penn State’s Kristin O’Neill lead in free-position shots so far this season. This was especially clear as both groups took their fair share of trips to the meter. Production of these shots was key to securing the victory for Penn State.
• Tonight’s win marked the first program victory against a No. 1 seed since 2005. This is exactly the momentum the Penn State team needs moving into the remainder of their season. Northwestern is an extremely talented team, and Penn State put up an exceptional performance to achieve this win.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions hit the road again to face Ohio State at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 28. Folks can catch the game streamed on the Big Ten Network.