East Lansing, MI. – On an unseasonably cold and wet Friday night the the visiting 15th ranked Nittany Lions of Penn State shut out the host Spartans of Michigan State in a hard-fought 4-0 victory.
The Spartans tried to get things clicking early on when just under 3 minutes gone in the fast-paced game they received a penalty corner. They didn’t score but off the corner action, they were issued a penalty stroke. Spartan Lena Kassel took the shot but Penn State goalkeeper Brie Barraco made an outstanding save to keep Michigan State off the scoreboard. Penn State gave up a green card at 10:30 but the Spartans were unable to take advantage and the game remained scoreless as it moved to the midway point of the first period.
Spartan keeper sophomore Cecily Charles made a great save on a shot from Penn State’s Sophia Gladieux in the seventh minute to keep the game scoreless but Just over a minute later, however, Gladieux found the net after taking a feed from Julia Lamb and scoring from the left of the goal.
The teams traded possession over the opening minutes of the second quarter in a big back-and-forth battle. The Spartans had a penalty corner in the fourth minute but Nittany Lions goalkeeper Barraco came up with another big save. With just over five minutes to play before halftime, Julienne Bekkum picked up a loose ball in front of the net off a feed from Madison Tambroni and scored to give the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead. It was Bekkum’s first goal as a Nittany Lion and Penn State rode that two-goal lead into the halftime break.
In the first half, Penn State outshot Michigan State 5-3. Both teams had two penalty corners. Barraco had two saves for the Nittany Lions, including the key stop on MSU’s early penalty stroke. Charles had one for Michigan State.
In the third, the Spartans began the period with possession, but the Nittany Lions defended the opening push. The teams traded possessions through the first five minutes with Penn State maintaining its 2-0 lead. Michigan State pressured the Nittany Lion cage but the defense led by Big 10 defensive player of the week Anouk Knuvers did a great job.
For some 5 minutes the game was contended in the midfield and Penn State maintained its lead. Penn State then moved the ball into the Spartan zone and Mackenzie Allessie corralled a loose ball, worked the ball left once, and then tapped the ball past the Spartan keeper for a goal at the 2:24 mark giving her Nittany Lions a huge 3-0 lead.
In the final period with 5 minutes gone, it was the dynamic Gladieux who wove in and out of the Spartan defense and was able to blast a beautiful backhand shot past the MSU keeper for Penn State’s fourth goal with 9:02 left in the game. After many Nittany Lion substitutions to give players an opportunity to show off and hone their skills, Penn State worked the clock down below the 5:00 mark. Michigan State threatened the Penn State goal at the 4:00 mark but a Spartan shot sailed high over goalkeeper Lauren Delgado. Penn State picked up a late penalty corner with 21 seconds left in the game, but the Spartans defended the play and Penn State posted the 4-0 victory.
Penn State outshot the Spartans 11-5 and had a 4-3 lead in corners. Barraco made two saves for Penn State and Charles had two for MSU.
Penn State is now 7-5 overall, 2-2 B1G. Michigan State falls to 3-9, 1-5 B1G. The Nittany Lions continue Big Ten play Sunday at Michigan at 1 p.m. The game in Ann Arbor is a Big Ten Network national telecast. Michigan State will host Rurgers at 1 P.M. Sunday.
