Northwestern jumped out to an early lead that it could not sustain in its season-ending 3-1 loss at Penn State in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.

Penn State’s three-goal rally in the course of the final 16 minutes unraveled the 1-0 edge that NU held for the better part of the game.

For the Wildcats the second-half lag was brutal, although not altogether unfamiliar – in their last two Big Ten matchups of the season the Cats claimed early leads before conceding them consecutive goals in the second half.

“We played as hard as we could,” coach Tim Lenahan said. “That’s three straight games where we took the lead and just ran out of gas.”

NU’s momentum gave out just as the team needed it most. Snatching a tournament championship was NU’s only truly viable means of earning its fifth consecutive bid in the NCAA Tournament.

And for 74 minutes, it looked like NU might knock out the first of the three wins that stood in its way.

Towards the end of a fairly even opening half the Cats notched their first and only goal of the game with just a minute left in the period, thanks to freshman forward Reed Losee.

Both teams continued to mount offensive pressure in the second half, with NU abiding by Lenahan’s prediction that few Big Ten games can be won 1-0.

But Penn State broke through in the 73rd minute, with team-leading scorer Corey Hertzog reminding NU of why he is one of the nation’s most dangerous forwards.

The momentum swung in Penn State’s favor after that, and they put away two more goals before the end of regulation, including one more from Hertzog, to put the game out of reach.

For NU, the loss was an ill-fitting cap for its six seniors, who as a class have garnered the second-most Big Ten wins of any class.

“I’m very proud of the seniors,” Lenahan said. “All six of them started and they all played great in their last appearance.”

katherinedriessen2013 @u.northwestern.edu