The Wildcats got their revenge on Penn State and kept their home win streak alive.
The Wildcats run the Big Ten.
On Saturday, Northwestern lacrosse defeated Penn State 14-12 to win its second consecutive Big Ten tournament title, coming back from a 4-1 deficit in the second quarter to win.
Graduate student Izzy Scane led all Northwestern scorers with five goals and an assist. She also scored her 358th career goal, tying Charlotte North as the NCAA’s all-time goals leader. Other top performers included sophomore Madison Taylor (three goals, one assist, eight draw controls) and graduate student Dylan Amonte (two goals, two assists). For Penn State, Gretchen Gilmore was the star, getting five goals and an assist.
Defensively, Jane Hansen had five ground balls and four caused turnovers. Freshman Madison Smith was also a standout with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. In the cage, graduate student Molly Laliberty made ten saves.
Penn State took the game’s first two shots, but Laliberty stopped the ball in both instances. The Nittany Lions did end up finding the back of the net with 9:52 left in the quarter, as Gretchen Gilmore found the back of the net. She was immediately followed up by Kristen O’Neill, who tacked in a goal of her own to put the Nittany Lions up 2-0.
Scane got on the board first for Northwestern with left in the 7:03 quarter, driving in for the unassisted goal. However, Penn State’s Brooke Hoss scored immediately afterward to keep the two-goal lead for her team. Kelly MacKinney then made it 4-1, scoring in nearly the same position as Hoss.
The Wildcats struggled to keep the ball in the first quarter, tallying nine turnovers and only three shots.
To open the second quarter, Scane scored again, this time off a free position shot. Then, graduate student Jane Hansen forced a Penn State turnover, sprinted down the field, and dished the ball to junior Emerson Bohlig, who tallied the goal. On the next possession, it was Scane again to tie the score up 4-4 with 10:51 left in the second quarter, forcing a timeout from Penn State.
Taylor got two more free position opportunities after the timeout but couldn’t convert. After a string of NU possessions, Penn State found the back of the net again, with Gilmore scoring to make the score 5-4. The Nittany Lions won the next draw control, but Taylor caused a turnover in transition to give her team possession back. She then scored her second goal of the game to tie things up with 4:16 left in the second quarter.
Coykendall was awarded a free position and flung the ball into the back of the net, giving NU a 6-5 lead — its first of the game. 6-5 was also the score when the game headed into halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, graduate student Lindsey Frank gave Northwestern its largest lead of the game with a goal. On the next possession, Scane assisted graduate student Mary Schumar’s goal, putting the Wildcats up 8-5. Taylor got herself two more goals with 7:38 left in the third quarter, extending her team’s lead to 10-5.
Scane and Amonte raked in more goals for Northwestern, pushing its lead to seven. But Gilmore stopped the bleeding for Penn State, getting one for her team with 5:23 left. The goal was Penn State’s first in 14 minutes. To end the third quarter, the Wildcats were winning 12-6.
Penn State’s Lauren Saltz found the back of the net to begin the fourth quarter, shooting a shot that barely went into the post. Gilmore scored her fourth of the game afterward, making it three consecutive goals for the Nittany Lions. Their run wouldn’t stop after that, as Kayla Abernathy got a goal off a free position with 9:06 left in the game.
Amonte scored Northwestern’s first goal since the third quarter, extending the lead to 13-9. Penn State, though, fired back with yet another free position goal, this time from Meghan Murray. With 4:52 left in the quarter, Scane scored her fifth goal of the game, tying Charlotte North’s Division I women’s lacrosse all-time goals record.
A rain delay brought the final 1:36 of the game to Ryan Fieldhouse. Saltz and Gilmore scored two more goals, but time wasn’t on their side as Northwestern held on for the 14-12 title-clinching victory.