No. 1 Terps Get Defensive in Win Over Penn State
from press release
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - A tenacious defensive
effort sparked No. 1 Maryland to a 13-2 victory over No. 16 Penn
State Sunday in the Terps' home opener.
After falling behind the Nittany Lions 2-1 to begin the match, the
Terrapin defense held Penn State (0-1) scoreless through nearly 51
minutes of play. Offensively, Maryland (3-0) was led by a trio of
hat tricks from Sarah Mollison, Katie Schwarzmann and Kristy Black.
Despite having her streak of consecutive games with a goal snapped
at 47, Karri Ellen Johnson tied a career-high with three
assists.
The Terps traded goals to open the match before PSU's Elaine Welch
scored at 20:51 to give Maryland its first deficit of the 2011
campaign. The duo of Schwarzmann and Black fired back with a
combined five unanswered goals to cap the half at 6-2.
Mollison paced Maryland in the second half with three goals. Senior
Brittany Poist netted her first career goal, Alex Aust added a
score and Brandi Jones scored the second of her two goals on the
day in the final stanza.
Schwarzmann put together another solid overall performance, adding
four draw controls, three caused turnovers and three ground balls
to her hat trick. Brittany Dipper notched her third win with a
six-save effort.
Maryland gave up fewer than three goals for the first time since
the 2003 season. The Terps outshot Penn State, 37-16.
"Our defense played outstanding," head coach Cathy Reese, who moves
to 41-1 at home, said. "I'm really proud of our defensive effort
and we've really been focusing on that and I thought it showed
today. We generated some good looks on goal and when we did we were
able to score, and, when we didn't, credit to them for doing a
great job in goal."
Maryland starts conference play next Saturday when it plays host to
Duke at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex at noon.
