Oct. 4, 2008

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. - Sophomore Matt Eliason scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season, including his fifth game-winner, as No. 3 Northwestern held off a strong effort from Penn State Saturday afternoon at Lakeside Field.

Carl Pett got the Wildcats (9-0-2, 2-0-0 Big Ten) on the board first at the 41:21 mark as he tallied his first goal of the season. Freshman Peter O'Neill served the ball from the left flank perfectly into the box for Pett who headed a shot past Nittany Lions' goalkeeper Liam Fitzwater.

Northwestern finished with a 10-3 advantage in shots in the first half.

Penn State (2-7-2, 0-2-0) remained aggressive and took advantage of a miscue by the Wildcats to tie the game. NU turned the ball over in its defensive third and Treavor Gelsinger made a run down the middle of the field. His shot partially deflected off a Wildcat defender and went into the net to make it 1-1 at 47:45.

Eliason, who ranks among the nation's leaders in goals scored, was up to his old tricks eight minutes later. Pat Coleman played a long service over the top of the Penn State defense to Eliason who was able to run it down and fired a blast from the top right corner of the box to put Northwestern back in front.

The Wildcats' defense made the lead hold up despite the Nittany Lions recording 13 shots over the final 45 minutes of play. Misha Rosenthal came up with six big saves to earn the win between the pipes for NU.

Each team finished with 16 shots in a physical battle that featured 30 fouls, five yellow cards and also one red card on Penn State that forced the visitors to play short-handed over the final 22 minutes of action.

Northwestern returns to action next Sunday, Oct. 12 as it travels to Wisconsin.