Buckeyes Complete Weekend Sweep of No. 10 Penn State
3/28/2021 3:43:40 PM | Women's Lacrosse
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team turned a 5-4 halftime deficit into an 11-9 win over No. 10 Penn State Sunday in Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes (3-7, 3-7 B1G) earned a sweep of the weekend set against the Nittany Lions (3-4, 3-4 B1G) after a 15-12 victory Friday.
The Short Story
Ohio State opened the scoring at 25:29 before a three-goal Penn State run for a 3-1 lead with 11:07 left in the first half. Ohio State tied the game with two goals in 1:17, but Penn State answered to regain its two-goal advantage (5-3) with 3:17 remaining. Buckeye Lindsay Epstein scored with 28 seconds left in the first half for a one-goal game (5-4) at halftime.
Ohio State scored the first five goals of the second half to tie the game and take the lead, with a 9-5 advantage with 16:18 remaining. The Nittany Lions ended a scoreless streak of 20:45 with a tally at 12:32. That goal started a three-goal Penn State run that made it a one-goal game (9-8) with 7:10 left but Nicole Ferrara scored for the Buckeyes 1:03 later for a 10-8 game. Penn State drew within one on a goal at 4:23 but Ohio State had the answer again, with a Sophie Baez goal 35 seconds later. Neither team scored the rest of the way as Ohio State closed out the 11-9 victory.
Ohio State won 19-of-22 draw controls in the game, with Chloe Johnson recording a career-high 12 to lead the Buckeyes. Epstein had an Ohio State-best four points with two goals and two assists and Ashley Turner had two goals and an assist for three points. Baez and Ferrara ended the day with two goals each. Jillian Rizzo had 10 saves in the cage for Ohio State, which outshot Penn State 33-26.
What a weekend for the Buckeyes!
Today, Ohio State rallied from down 5-4 at the half for the 11-9 upset of the Nittany Lions. #GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/sYbYpWaNcL
— Ohio State Women’s LAX (@OhioStateWLAX) March 28, 2021
Ohio State 11, Penn State 9
- Ashley Turner scored off a feed from Lindsay Epstein at the 25:29 mark to open the scoring.
- Penn State tallied the next three, with two quick goals at 24:10 and 22:16 to tie the game and take the lead and a third at 11:07.
- At 8:17 Buckeye Clare Johnston converted a free position shot and Ali Beekhuizen followed with a goal at 7:00 to deadlock the game at three.
- The Nittany Lions scored back-to-back at 5:08 and 3:17 to again take the lead (5-3).
- With 28 seconds left in the half Epstein scored on a free position shot for a one-goal game at halftime.
- Ohio State scored five times before the midpoint of the second half for a 9-5 lead with 16:18 remaining.
- Liza Hernandez tied the score at 28:51, scoring off a pass from Turner, and Epstein scored on a free position chance at 23:25 for the Buckeyes’ first lead since early in the game.
- Turner converted a free position shot of her own at 21:23 and the Buckeyes scored a man-down goal at 19:00, with Ferrara completing a play set up by Beekhuizen.
- At 12:32 Penn State scored its first goal in 20:45 when Mary Muldoon scored a man-up tally. The Nittany Lions then scored twice in 25 seconds, at 7:35 and 7:10, for a 9-8 Buckeye lead.
- Ferrara scored unassisted 1:03 later to push the Buckeyes ahead 10-8 at 6:07.
- Penn State again made it a one-goal game on a Muldoon score at 4:23, but Epstein found Baez, who spun and scored at 3:48, for an 11-9 Ohio State lead.
Stats Synopsis
- Ohio State outshot Penn State, 33-26 and each team had 10 goalie saves.
- Ohio State won 19-of-22 draw controls, going 8-2 in the first half and 11-1 in the second.
- Penn State had the slight edge in ground balls, 20-19, and had fewer turnovers (15-24).
- On clears, the Buckeyes were 19-for-23 and the Nittany Lions were 26-for-29.
Buckeye This and That
- Johnson had a career-high 12 draw controls, the most for a Buckeye since 2016 when Molly Wood had 13 twice.
- Epstein had her first career four-point game with two goals and two assists and had a career-high eight shots. She has 10 goals and 14 points this season.
- Rizzo has nine or more saves in eight games this year. The active NCAA leader in career saves, she has an Ohio State record 758 stops.
- Turner had a second straight three-point game with two goals and an assist. She leads the Buckeyes with nine assists and is second with 21 points.
- Hernandez leads the Buckeye with 26 goals and 29 points this year. She is eighth in Ohio State history in goals (125) and points (175). She has at least one goal in all but one game this season.
- With two goals, Baez had her first multiple goal game of the season.
- Beekhuizen has at least one goal in each of the last four games and now has six on the year.
- Ferrara, who had two goals, is second on the squad with 14 goals and third with 20 points.
Up Next
- The Buckeyes have next weekend off before closing the regular season home slate against Northwestern at 2:30 p.m. April 10 in Ohio Stadium.
- The regular season ends with a game at Michigan April 16.
