Penn State Women’s Lacrosse Looks to Break Northwestern’s Win Streak
This Thursday, the Penn State Nittany Lions will be heading to Evanston, IL., for an exciting matchup against the Northwestern Wildcats.
The blue and white have had an outstanding season so far, with an overall record of 9-2 and a conference record of 2-0. This has been a shocking performance by the Nittany Lions, who have not had a full winning season since 2017. In their past couple of games, they have gone up against two classic Penn State rivals and were very successful, securing a 15-12 win over Pitt and a 13-3 win over Ohio State. The team is currently on a five-game winning streak.
This week’s matchup against the Wildcats will be Penn State’s third conference game of the season. Although they are undefeated in the Big Ten so far, they may finally meet their match.
The Wildcats are currently on a winning streak of their own, and it's double that of the Nittany Lions. Having gone 10-0 in their last 10 games, including two conference wins over Michigan and Johns Hopkins, they are looking unstoppable this season.
Their only loss this spring was their season opener in which they fell to Syracuse 16-15. Since then, they have won almost every game by a significant goal margin, the largest being their 24-3 Senior Day victory over Youngstown State.
Graduate student Izzy Scane has been Northwestern’s most crucial contributor in the offensive zone. After missing the entire 2022 season due to a torn ACL, she is back and leading the team with 47 goals and 14 assists. Scane has scored a minimum of four goals in every game this season, and even hit double digits when she matched her career high of ten against Notre Dame back in February.
Following behind Scane on the stats chart is senior Erin Coykendall. She has also scored in every game so far and has been successful in creating dangerous opportunities for her teammates with 24 assists.
For the Nittany Lions, juniors Kristin O’Neill and Gretchen Gilmore have been lighting up the score sheet with 36 and 22 goals respectively. There have been multiple standout players on the defensive end as well, including sophomore defender Ellie Hollin and sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Bowan.
Hollin was just named the IWLCA and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after an impressive performance against Ohio State in which she posted five caused turnovers, five ground balls, and one draw control.
Bowan also gave an impressive performance against the Buckeyes. She made multiple standout saves, holding a shutout for the entire first half and allowing just three goals in the second.
With both teams being 2-0 in the Big Ten conference, this long-anticipated matchup will be a battle to see whose win streak breaks first.
The game will take place at 8 p.m. this Thursday at Ryan Fieldhouse.
Anna Licastro is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email arl5942@psu.edu.
