Box score

Lizzie Priest made ten saves, and Pam Aldridge's goal was ruled just too high in Northeastern field hockey's heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Penn State in Saturday's NCAA Sweet Sixteen matchup.

Penn State's Ayla Halus made just three saves, but Northeastern thought they had tied the game through Aldridge late in the first half only for the goal to be disallowed. The Huskies end their season with a record of 14-8 (5-3 CAA), their most wins since 2005.

Head coach Cheryl Murtagh rued a few missed chances but was complimentary of Penn State in defeat. “We knew Penn State was a good team and a good passing team and we were able to control that a little bit—a little more in the second half even," she said. "We didn't execute our opportunities as well as we should have as there were shots that we didn't get off. It's disappointing.”

The two teams traded possession back and forth in the early going, but it was the Nittany Lions who grabbed the game's first scoring chance after seven minutes. Lauren Purvis gained space along the goal line and swept one in front of junior Lizzie Priest's cage; leading scorer Kelsey Amy was streaking to the back door and would have had the goal at her mercy, but the pass led her inches too far.

Penn State kept heavy pressure on when Ashtin Klingler found Taylor Herold in front, but her shot was blocked. The Nittany Lions parlayed the opportunity into a penalty corner, but Hannah Allison's blast went straight into a grounded Priest. Another corner followed, and Brittany Grzywacz dragged one off the crossbar to keep things deadlocked.

The Nittany Lions finally made good on their early run of pressure when, during a scramble in front of net, Herold found herself in the right place at the right time to knock in her tenth goal of the season to put the Huskies in a 1-0 hole after 18 minutes.

Northeastern responded immediately with its first good chance of the game. After earning a penalty corner, senior Carolyn Malloy played the ball to junior Nicky Graham at the top of the circle. Graham set up Crystal Poland, whose blast was deflected by a sprawling blocker save from Penn State's Ayla Halus.

Penn State reasserted itself on proceedings shortly thereafter, keeping most of the play in the Huskies' end through the latter stages of the first half. With the pressure squarely on the Northeastern defense, the Nittany Lions earned their fourth corner of the match, and Grzywacz's blast from the top of the circle went just wide. The Huskies again failed to mount an offensive attack, and after yet another scramble in front, Laura Gebhart had a point blank opportunity but failed to hit it square, and Priest made the save to hold the score at 1-0.

Northeastern appeared to have pulled one back with seven minutes before intermission on one of their patented penalty corner set pieces. Senior captain Kaela Barker found classmate Pam Aldridge along the left side, and Aldridge buried for what would have been her ninth of the season. Her backswing was too high however, and the shot's hitting the net above the backboard meant the goal was disallowed.

Junior and leading goalscorer Crystal Poland made her first marauding run right on the back of the disallowed goal, but Grzywacz was there to cut it out just as she was finding a sight of goal.

Play resumed after the intermission much as the game had begun, with teams trading possession before the Nittany Lions assumed the first full chance. Kelsey Amy outran multiple Northeastern defenders and played one in front. Purvis was just late to the spot, however, and the Huskies had dodged another bullet.

The Huskies nearly equalized through a penalty corner when Malloy played it directly to Barker on the left side. Halus saved Barker's shot with a kick, causing a scramble in front, but numerous Huskies could not tee themselves up for a shot and the chance went begging with 22 minutes to play.

After enjoying their best spell of possession over the second half's first 15 minutes, Northeastern was inches from going down 2-0 after Grzywacz's penalty corner blast went just wide of Priest's left post. The Huskies tried to break out from there, but a wayward pass gave Penn State a fast break opportunity; Amy made another of her many runs along the goal line, but senior Keelin Quinn was on hand to break up her centering pass.

Priest then did very well to keep the deficit at one with 16 minutes to play. Gebhart found herself with an open chance straight on from inside the circle, but Priest deflected her blast and then stoned Jenna Chrismer's rebound effort. Northeastern earned a corner in response, but Halus proved herself up to Priest's standard, with a diving blocker save to her left.

The Huskies appetites for goal were further whetted when Purvis went off on a yellow card with 13 minutes to play, leaving the Nittany Lions down a player. Penn State coach Charlene Morett called timeout to organize her side, and through four minutes of the advantage the Huskies had failed to create a bona fide chance. Murtagh then called her own timeout with 8:54 remaining.

Northeastern came out of the timeout with possession in the left corner. Junior Chris Tase took possession up top and set up classmate Ali Conti; her drive went wide, however, and Purvis made her way back onto the field to even the sides with eight minutes left.

Penn State attempted to make offense their best defense as they tried to see the game out. Whitney Reddig's shot was blocked and the Nittany Lions ended up with a penalty corner; from there, Allison's blast beat Priest to her left but Beth Cobby knocked it off the line with her fifth defensive save of the season.

The Big 10 champions then earned two more corners in rapid succession, and used the time to melt the clock and kill the game off. Cobby was on hand for two more crucial blocks on blasts from Amy, however, to keep Northeastern in the game.

Priest was outstanding in net for the Huskies amidst Penn State's 22-shot onslaught.  Many of her 10 saves came on the Nittany Lions' point blank rebound opportunities, in addition to numerous rockets from Amy at the top of the circle.

The Huskies earned one last offensive chance with a penalty corner after Poland gained possession and had her point blank shot blocked. With 15 seconds left, Malloy and Graham teed up Poland, but this time the Huskies' ever-reliable goalscoring combo could not provide a miracle. Poland's drag flick was deflected, and after a scramble in front, Penn State took possession and cleared the ball as time ran out. The ending sequence punctuated a frustrating day for Poland, who led the team and the nation with 27 goals this year but was held to just two shots on goal by a harrassing Penn State defense.

Morett felt that despite having most of the possession, the Nittany Lions felt Northeastern's pressure for a late equalizer. “I felt that we had a lot of opportunities to score and we didn't capitalize," she said. "I thought that Northeastern played a great game and put a lot of pressure on us in the second half. I thought they played a great game.”

Despite the loss, Murtagh counts the year as a successful one. “I absolutely think we [achieved our goals]," she said. "It would have been nice to get to the next game and see what happened from there, but I'm very proud of our team.

"I think they were a team and they played well together today. I'm very proud of what they've accomplished."