Nov. 8, 2002

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Playing the final game in the first round of the 2002 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament, sixth-seed Northwestern fell to third-seed Penn State 2-0 at Ohio State's North Turf Field Friday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. With the loss, NU ends its 2002 season with a 6-13 overall record and 1-5 in the Big Ten.

Ranked No. 6 nationally, Penn State came right out of the gate, outshooting NU 7-1 in the first half and held a 6-0 penalty corner edge at the break. Second-team All-Big Ten player, Lindsey Millard (St, Louis, Mo./St, Louis Country Day), led the charge thwarting numerous Lady Lion scoring chances.

Penn State kept the heat on early in the second stanza, breaking through with the first goal of the game as Heather Conroy converted Penn State's ninth penalty corner of the game. Penn State tallied 16 penalty corners to NU's two.

Northwestern's offense came right back after the Penn State score, coming up with some scoring opportunities of its own. But Penn State's defense was too much, as the Lady Lion defense held strong.

The Nittany Lion offense took over from there. With 18-minutes left in the game, PSU recorded eight shots to the Wildcats' one and tallied seven penalty corners compared to one for the Wildcats.

The Lady Lions tacked on another goal with 8:47 remaining in the game. It was an unassisted field play goal scored by Karin Grap.

Senior goalkeeper Kendra Mesa (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) had seven saves in the game.