No. 2 Northwestern Blows Out No. 15 Penn State in Second Half
from press release
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Second-ranked Northwestern
turned what was a first-half defensive struggle into a blowout
Friday night, outscoring No. 15 Penn State 10-2 over the final 30
minutes to drop the Nittany Lions, 14-5, in an American Lacrosse
Conference matchup. Junior Shannon Smith netted her only three
goals of the game in a span of less than three minutes in the
second stanza while freshman Kara Mupo notched a pair of tallies
for the second straight outing.
Junior Alex Frank and sophomore Taylor Thornton each found the back
of the net twice in the opening frame, with Thornton breaking a 2-2
tie in the game with a free position score at the 13:18 mark. Frank
followed suit five minutes later when she took a spot-on feed from
behind the net by Smith and calmly put it away for her 11th of the
season.
But Penn State took advantage of its own offensive opportunities
and soon was back within one following an unassisted goal by Maggie
Dunbar to set the score at 4-3 at the break.
Northwestern may very well have been looking up at the visitors on
the scoreboard at intermission had it not been for five big
first-half saves by goalie Brianne LoManto. With just over a minute
left before halftime, the junior showed off her reaction time when
she turned away a bouncing shot with her lower leg, preserving NU's
one-goal advantage.
Northwestern's first goal out halftime was a creative one; with
less than two minutes gone by, Erin Fitzgerald forced her way down
the left side of the arc and tried to fire a shot under duress. Her
attempt instead bounced across the goal mouth, where Mupo was
waiting to swat it past Penn State goalkeeper Dana Cahill.
Three minutes later, Jessica Russo put the hosts ahead 6-3 with a
right-handed blast in front of the cage while falling to one
knee.
After sophomore Ali Cassera sandwiched an unassisted goal between
to Nittany Lion tallies, Smith began making her presence in the
game known. The nation's points leader struck at the 14:42 mark
and, following a Lacey Vigmostad draw control, took a pass and
darted down the field, bouncing the ball through Cahill's legs just
15 seconds after her previous goal to put NU in front, 9-5.
She completed her hat trick by taking on four defenders on the
right wing and slotting it past Cahill to essentially put the game
out of reach for the Nittany Lions. But goals in the waning minutes
by Mupo, Beatrice Conley, Brooke Matthews and Alyssa Leonard served
to remove all doubt that may have surfaced in the first half.
Northwestern outshot Penn State 23-12 in the second half and 34-22
for the game. Both teams were turnover-prone through much of the
night, with the Nittany Lions handing it over 16 times compared to
11 by the Wildcats.
Northwestern's three-game homestand against top-15 opponents
concludes Sunday when the Wildcats host No. 8 Penn in a game to be
televised live by the Big Ten Network.
