Penn State Field Hockey (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten) defeated the Bucknell Bison (4-5, 0-2 Patriot League) 3-0 on Monday evening.

Penn State junior Ella Gaitan netted two of the Nittany Lions’ three goals, with the third coming from Natalie Freeman. The Nittany Lions also recorded a season-high in penalty corners with 16.

How It Happened

Penn State produced early offensive strategies and was able to get near the net multiple times in the opening two minutes. The Bison defense was able to regain possession and prevent the Nittany Lions from scoring.

Lara Pyle was able to consistently work the ball on offense for the Nittany Lions, helping them keep the ball on their side of the field. The Bison defense, however, was able to force timely turnovers.

Ella Gaitan was the first to score in the game with 11:12 remaining in the first quarter. She snuck the ball past Clara Espenshade to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead.

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The Nittany Lions were quick to regain possession. Sienna Dunn tried to sift the ball through the Bison defense to Gaitan, but the shot trickled wide.

Katie Lintz thought she cracked the code of the Nittany Lion defense in order to tie the score at one, but her shot was blocked by Aby Deverka.

With 7:16 left in the first quarter, Penn State received its first penalty corner. Camryn Standish was the main driving force behind the ball, trying to lead her team to a goal, but she was ultimately blocked by Gracie Kothari.

The Bucknell defense set up a penalty corner for Penn State, its second of the game, with 4:37 left in the first quarter. The Nittany Lions attempted their fourth shot of the game and were not able to connect to the back of the net after an absolute missile of a shot off Gaitan’s stick.

Bucknell had a late push within the final 30 seconds of the first period, but was unable to draw anything up on the Nittany Lion defense, ending the first quarter 1-0.

The Bison had their best shot in the first half with 10:45 remaining in the second quarter, but a whistle going against them caused a costly turnover to the Nittany Lions.

Freeman was able to connect with 7:21 left in the second to extend the Penn State lead to 2-0 as she battled on a one-versus-four.

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The first penalty corner of the second half came with 11:01 in the third quarter, but Penn State was unable to connect for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State had a free hit and passed it to Kira Takahashi-Trader, who passed it through the offense to help set up a potential shot. It was unable to connect as the Bison forced a turnover as sticks went flying.

Penn State drew its fourth penalty corner with 7:10 remaining in the third period. It was mishandled by Lilly Holmes, leading to a turnover to the Bison offense, giving them a good look.

With 5:16 left in the third frame, Bucknell received its first penalty corner. It was unable to convert and find the back of the net.

Penn State ended the third period and started the fourth period with back-to-back-to-back penalty corners, but all were denied by Bison goalkeeper Sarah Althouse.

Gaitan struck for the Nittany Lions with 3:46 left in regulation to give the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead as she netted her second goal of the game. The Bison defense thought it was going to roll out of bounds, but Gaitan was able to net it.

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With 2:55 left, Espenshade had a big hit on Olivia Marthins, leading to another penalty corner for the Nittany Lions. Katelyn Strawser took the shot, but did not connect.

With 1:57 left in regulation, the Nittany Lions received their 15th penalty corner as Chloe D’Hage tried to find a crack in the Bison defense. The shot was blocked, leading to Penn State’s 16th penalty corner of the game, which set a new season high for the Nittany Lions. The ball found the back of the net, but was whistled a no-goal due to an infraction against Penn State.

The last possession of the game belonged to the Bison, who had 21.4 seconds to try to erase their blank on the scoreboard. They were able to draw their fourth penalty corner of the game, where Bella Notaro attempted to score, but was unsuccessful as time expired.

Takeaways

• Penn State outshot Bucknell 9-0 in the game, which made it another strong showing from the Nittany Lion defense.
• Penn State had 15 penalty corners and was only able to connect on a few.
• Bison freshman Clara Espenshade consistently proved to be a tough opponent on Bucknell’s defense for Penn State. She led the defense to pick up continual steals from the Nittany Lions throughout the entirety of the game.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to Piscataway, New Jersey, to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 3 p.m. on Friday, October 2. The contest will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.