Northwestern Dismantles Penn State Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State was defeated 17-6 by No. 3 Northwestern in its annual pink game at Panzer Stadium on Friday night.
On a cold night, the Northwestern offense was hot, scoring early and often, and registering the first five goals of the game.
Carleigh Mahoney scored just 30 seconds in to give the Wildcats a lead that they would never give back.
Scoring opportunities were few and far between for the Nittany Lions, but Brooke Hoss got an early free position opportunity to try to even up the score. Missed opportunities like these were a talking-point for Head Coach Miss Doherty.
“When we got it down on offense, we had some decent possessions,” Doherty said. “We just never had the ball down there.”
Jill Girardi and Erin Coykendall began their great nights during this run for the Wildcats as each went on to register their first two goals. This duo would finish with five goals a piece, which tied career bests for the both of them.
Coykendall’s first goal led to a Penn State timeout, which looked to shift the momentum. Just like the previous scoring chance, the timeout failed to shift momentum as Girardi would put Northwestern ahead by four goals.
Kristin O’Neill, who was named to the Midseason All-American list, recorded her 26th goal of the season to get the Nittany Lions on the board.
Lauren Gilbert, who finished the game with three goals, matched O’Neill’s goal for Northwestern’s sixth goal of the game. Her performance propelled her to the 40-goal plateau on the year.
Gilbert’s goal ended the night for Penn State’s Ashley Brown. Brown allowed six goals on eight shots, and Cayden Jarvis came into the game in relief. Jarvis did not have much of her own success, allowing 11 goals on 19 shots.
Meghan Murray would register Penn State’s second goal of the game as the Nittany Lions ended the first quarter down by four goals.
Penn State failed to control a single draw in the first quarter, but were able to get their first control coming out of the quarter break. Northwestern dominated the draw all night, securing 21 of the 24 draws.
“We got to be ready to get the draw because certainly possession dictated that game,” said Doherty.
The control would mean nothing for the Nittany Lion squad as Coykendall and Mahoney got the scoring going for the Wildcats in the second quarter.
O’Neill answered with her second tally of the night, but Elle Hansen scored moments later to put the lead back up to six for the Wildcats.
Coykendall recorded another goal to put the Wildcats in double-digits, but Taylor Regan scored her 18th of the season right at the buzzer to keep the deficit manageable for Penn State.
Northwestern countered any Penn State halftime adjustments that Penn State made as Girardi and Coykendall would score two in a row to start the scoring in the second half for the Wildcats.
Murray registered her second goal of the game to get Penn State on the board in the second half, but Northwestern’s offense remained relentless.
Northwestern scored five goals in a row to go up by 12 goals, with Gilbert and Girardi each scoring two more goals for the Wildcats, and Hunter Chadwick also finding the back of the net.
Regan ended the scoring for both programs as she notched her second of the game to make the score 17-6.
Despite the tough loss for Penn State, Regan said the team remained positive.
“Even after a loss like this, everybody’s heads were up,” Regan said. “I’m super proud of everybody.”
The Nittany Lions will look to use some of that positivity to end their losing streak at three games when they travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins on Thursday evening.
Justin Ciavolella is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
