Penn State field hockey drops Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal, takes Ohio State to

Penn State put up a fight against Ohio State in the season-ending quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, ultimately taking the Buckeyes to overtime.

However, it wasn’t enough as the Nittany Lions lost 4-3 Wednesday evening.

Ohio State earned the first corner of the game about five minutes into the first quarter. Penn State’s defense, led by sophomore goalie Brie Barraco, was able to keep the ball out and regain possession with the contest remaining scoreles.

With two minutes left in the opening frame, the Buckeyes got another corner, but this time they were able to break through the Nittany Lions’ defense and scored the first goal of the game.

The ball remained on Ohio State’s side for the rest of the quarter, meaning its lead hung tight at 1-0.

Five minutes into the second quarter, senior forward Emma Spisak got the first corner of the game for Penn State.

Senior forward Bree Bednarski was the inserter and, after patiently waiting to get the deflection off the goalkeeper’s pads, flicked in a shot for a Nittany Lion goal.

With one more scoreless corner for each side, the first half ended in a 1-1 tie.

After the break, the third quarter went back and forth until the last two minutes.

Penn State got its third corner of the game, with Bednarski playing the inserter role once again. The shot came from junior defender Anna Simon, and during the ball’s path toward the cage, Bednarski recorded another tip that caught Ohio State’s goalie off balance and put the Nittany Lions on top 2-1.

This lead didn’t last for long, however, as Ohio State scored in the first minute of the final quarter.

Just three minutes later, the Buckeyes got another corner and took the lead for the first time since the opening frame.

With under 10 minutes left, freshman forward Sophia Gladieux scored her first goal of the game, which tied the score at 3-3.

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In overtime, Penn State earned a corner at the eight minute mark, but was unable to get the ball in.

Ohio State answered just a minute later and got a shot past Baracco to win the game, ending the Nittany Lions’ season.

Tight defense helps Penn State

Utilizing a man-to-man coverage style, the Nittany Lions gave Ohio State less room to make plays.

The blue and white applied pressure as soon as the ball would reach a Buckeye player’s stick. This gave Penn State more opportunities to gain possession while also leaving Ohio State flustered.

The blue and white was also pressing on the backpasses that came from the Buckeyes, which prevented Ohio State from holding onto the ball as long as it usually does.

Never giving up

Penn State played the fourth quarter with a sense of urgency not seen all season long. It kept the intensity at a high level throughout the game and challenged the Buckeyes by not letting them get ahead by more than one goal.

Ohio State scored the first goal, but the blue and white scored as well before letting its opposition score another. This continued until the final quarter when the Buckeyes scored two goals in just a couple minutes of play.

Even though Ohio State did get ahead, the Nittany Lions made sure it wouldn’t last and scored another goal to tie up the score once again.

Corners turn into goals

Something the Nittany Lions have struggled with all season has been using corners to their advantage.

Penn State did much better with this during Wednesday’s affair as two of its four corners turned into goals.

Bednarski was able to insert the ball on corners and then get in a good position to score a goal as well.

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