No. 16 Penn State field hockey (1-3) defeated Delaware (1-2) 5-4 on the road Sunday, ending its season-opening slide with a thrilling win over the Blue Hens.

Delaware started hot, netting an early goal before the Nittany Lions got their bearings. Penn State responded but couldn’t convert strong first quarter stats to a lead. As the game wore on, Delaware scored another three goals while opening each successive quarter, with Penn State hanging on and tying the game up before each frame closed. Finally, deep in the fourth quarter, goals from Strawser and Gladieux put the game out of reach for the Nittany Lions’ first win of the season.

How It Happened

The Blue Hens, fresh off an overtime thriller victory against Bucknell, set the tone early with a third-minute goal. Freshman Janne Stoetzer scored her first career goal to put Delaware ahead 1-0.

The Nittany Lions responded just over three minutes later on a corner play started by Julienne van Bekkum. She sent the rock to Sophia Gladieux by way of Madison Tambroni, with Gladieux finding the net to knot the game at 1-1 with just under ten minutes to play in the first quarter.

The rest of the first quarter was tense as Delaware conceded two further penalty corners, bringing the frame’s total to seven opportunities for the Nittany Lions. Blue Hen Goaltender Cecile Van Eijck denied the rest to send the game to the second quarter.

Delaware earned its first penalty corner opportunity with 12 minutes to play in the second quarter. Lulu Fulton kicked possession out to Genevieve Johnson, who smashed the ball net-ward. It would beat Aby Deverka and put Delaware in front once more.

Penn State pressed on to answer the deficit, firing seven shots on target as the half waned. Then, with just under three minutes left in the half, the Nittany Lions took advantage of another penalty corner. Gerry Schnarrs got the first look at the goal, but her shot was deflected by Van Eijck. Sophia Mannino was lurking for the rebound, sending the ball to van Bekkum for a much-needed goal.

The half expired with the score at 2-2, but Penn State held the lion’s share of shots and corners, the tallies 12-3 and 12-2 respectively.

Returning from the locker room, Delaware once more started hot. This time, Kate Janssen found Noelle Sabbagh with space in the shooting circle. Sabbagh netted her first goal of the campaign to put the Blue Hens on top 3-2 just a minute and a half into the second half.

Gladieux responded in the next minute, dicing up the Delaware defense by herself and scoring unassisted to will the Nittany Lions on.

Delaware’s tactics shifted during the second half, locking Penn State out of the shooting circle for the rest of the quarter. It would take this defensive prowess forward as with just two minutes left in the third frame, Fulton and Johnson connected again for Johnson’s second goal of the match.

Penn State entered the fourth quarter down 4-3, but its luck changed as Delaware midfielder Kate Fiest earned a yellow card, giving the Nittany Lions an opportunity to go to work a player up on the Blue Hens. Twenty seconds later, a Gladieux shot rebounded to a waiting Katelyn Strawser, who buried the ball to tie the game up at 4-4.

The Nittany Lions took their first lead late in the fourth quarter on an unassisted Gladieux shot, edging the score to 5-4 with just two and a half minutes to play. Delaware fought bitterly to tie the game up, but after two unsuccessful corner attempts, the final buzzer sounded.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions have continued to develop their penalty corner game, showing different threats at each position on their 14 opportunities today. With shots from Schnarr, Gladieux, Maninno, and Van Bekkum among others, opposing defenses will continue to have fits dealing with this hydra-like attack.
• Deverka had a rough day in the cage for the Nittany Lions, putting up two saves on six shots. That’s not to say it was her fault, though, as Delaware created too many open shooters for her to handle. Look for Penn State’s defense to toughen up this week as Big Ten play looms.

What’s Next?

Penn State will stay on the road next weekend, traveling to Ohio to meet Kent State this Friday. The opening whistle is scheduled for 3 p.m.