PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 17 Rutgers field hockey made a second-half charge, but came up just short, falling 3-2 to No. 7 Penn State (7-3, 3-1 Big Ten) on Friday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights (7-3, 1-3 Big Ten) got goals from Nikki Profita and Emily Howarth, and goalkeeper Gianna Glatz made a career-high 12 saves, but Penn State used a 22-12 advantage in shots and 6-3 margin in corners to ensure the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Penn State had the better of play in the opening half, outshooting Rutgers 11-3. Anna Simon scored the first goal of the day off a penalty corner. Then with just 30 seconds remaining in the half, the Nittany Lions capitalized on a RU turnover to score and take a 2-0 halftime lead.

Ten minutes into the second half, the home team struck back. Gianna Mancini took a shot that was saved, but Profita was there in position to stick home the rebound and cut the lead to 2-1.

PSU answered with a goal from Cassie Kline. She scored to give PSU a 3-1 lead with 14 minutes to play. Glatz then made a series of saves, stopping eight second half shots to keep the score there.

Late in the game, Rutgers amped up the pressure. After a corner, Emily Howarth scored her first career goal, knocking in the rebound of a Profita shot to cut the lead to 3-2.

Rutgers pulled their goalkeeper and made one last charge. The team earned an untimed corner at the end, but were unable to convert and fell 3-2.

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Meredith Civico
"I think the first half; we didn't execute our game plan effectively. We re-focused at halftime about what we were trying to do and how we were trying to limit and exploit Penn State. I thought the team did a much better job following that game plan in the second half. I thought we battled mentally and we battled physically, it was just a few mistakes that cost us the game. But I think there were a lot of good things and a lot of good lessons that we can take from this game. We just have to stay focused on us and make sure we stay true to us and our strengths as a hockey team."

Senior midfielder Nikki Profita
"We just need to go back and analyze the video of this game. We'll find our mistakes, pick out the positives, what worked well, and see what we need to fix going into Sunday's game."

POSTGAME NOTES

• Profita had her first ever game with both a goal and an assist
• She now has three goals in the last two games, and a career-high four tallies on the year.
• Howarth's first career goal came in the junior's 43^rd career collegiate game.
• Glatz made 12 saves, setting her career-high in stops for the second straight game after nine saves last Sunday against Ohio State.
• Mancini's assist was the first of her career.
• The Nittany Lions now lead the all-time series 17-4-3.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights hit the road for Sunday's contest, a 1 p.m. game at No. 19 Delaware.

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