Northwestern continued its recent success in the first leg of its final road trip of the season.

After beating No. 1 North Carolina on March 31, the No. 6 Wildcats (7-3, 2-1 ALC) battled to a 5-4 victory over No. 10 Penn State (7-5, 2-2), stretching their winning streak to three in their fourth consecutive matchup against a ranked opponent.

NU took control early with a goal in the seventh minute from sophomore midfielder Lauren Murray, who made the most of a free position shot to get the Cats on the board.

After that point, NU remained in the lead until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Senior midfielder Kat DeRonda powered the Cats with three goals off the bench, protecting the Cats’ lead with the team’s only two second-half scores.

The scores pushed the veteran’s season total to 16, a career high.

Kaleigh Craig scored the other goal for NU. The sophomore midfielder leads a balanced attack with 20 goals.

Junior goalkeeper Bridget Bianco had another strong showing in the net, making eight saves and pushing her goals allowed average down to 7.78 per game.

Penn State’s Madison Cyr scored twice in a losing effort. The Nittany Lions struggled to consistently produce chances on offense, despite the team’s prowess in that area this season

The Cats have one road game remaining, a second Keystone State matchup against No. 12 Penn on Sunday, before returning home to finish out their regular season schedule.

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