In No. 3 Northwestern’s first game at Ryan Fieldhouse in nearly a month, the team looked to continue its dominant season against its first Big Ten opponent, Penn State.
After a relatively slow start from both sides, the Wildcats (7-1, 1-0 Big Ten) broke the 1-1 knot and never looked back, defeating the Nittany Lions (2-7, 0-2 Big Ten) 16-7 Sunday afternoon.
This marked NU’s seventh win in its last eight matchups with Penn State, the only loss coming in the 2024 regular season, which the ’Cats later avenged in the Big Ten championship.
Senior midfielder Emerson Bohlig opened the scoring for NU in the fifth minute, finding the back of the net after a free position. Penn State’s leading scorer, junior attacker Erika Ho, answered back less than three minutes later.
The ’Cats, who entered the weekend tied for fourth in the national rankings for scoring offense, didn’t let their opponent stay within reach for long. They ventured on a 10-1 scoring run over the next 23 minutes, coming within one goal of starting the running clock.
Six different NU players joined in on the scoring action during the run, and eight scored throughout the entire match. The squad also logged assists on seven of its 16 goals.
Upon racking up just one assist and no goals in the first 15 minutes, junior attacker Madison Taylor notched four second-quarter goals, tied for her most in a single quarter this season.
Taylor, who leads the nation in scoring, finished the day with six goals and three assists for a total of nine points. She has not recorded less than six points in any match this season.
Graduate student attacker Riley Campbell’s second goal of the game capped off the scoring run, but the Nittany Lions didn’t go down without a fight. The visitors outscored the ’Cats 4-3 in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to seven by the end of the third quarter.
In a match where Penn State never threatened a comeback, NU defended its lead in the final period to secure its first win of the conference gauntlet.
Campbell notched four points on two goals and two assists, and Bohlig scored two goals. Freshman midfielder Hannah Rudolph recorded her first career multi-goal game.
Despite losing the draw by a 16-10 margin, the ’Cats limited the Penn State attack for the bulk of the contest. Sixth-year defender Jane Hansen led the team with four caused turnovers and freshman defender Mary Carroll added a team-high four ground balls. Senior defender Sammy White tallied two ground balls and two caused turnovers, as well as her first goal of the season.
Graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer played all 60 minutes between the pipes. She made 10 saves and allowed seven goals.
The ’Cats will continue their homestand Saturday when they host No. 4 Maryland at 1 p.m.
Email: jonahmcclure2028@u.northwestern.edu
X: @jemccl125
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