Buckeyes will play No. 7 seed Penn State at 1:15 p.m. Nov. 5
COLUMBUS, Ohio - With Big Ten tournament seeding on the line, the No. 13 Ohio State field hockey team earned a 2-1 conference victory over No. 20 Northwestern Saturday in Evanston, Ill., to finish the regular season in a two-way tie for second with Indiana with matching 4-2 league ledgers.
By virtue of its win over Indiana this season, Ohio State (13-5 overall) earned the tiebreaker and will be the No. 2 seed at the conference tournament. The Buckeyes open the conference tournament vs. Penn State, the No. 7 seed, at 1:15 Nov. 5 in East Lansing, Mich.
"This is a great win for us on the road," Anne Wilkinson, Ohio State head coach, said. "It is a strong way for us to end the season and we are in a good rhythm going into the Big Ten tournament."
After three first half goals, both the Buckeyes and Wildcats turned up their defensive efforts for a scoreless second half. The two teams combined for just 16 shots on the game with Ohio State holding a 9-7 advantage. The Wildcats held a slight advantage in penalty corners, 7-5.
Northwestern struck first but its lead did not stand for long. After two-consecutive penalty corners, NU sophomore Chelsea Armstrong, who leads the league in scoring, was able to sneak one by sophomore goalkeeper Ally Tunitis after picking up a loose ball in front of the net at 8:03.
Freshman Berta Queralt, who is second in scoring in the Big Ten, used her speed and stick-handling skills to tie the game at 1-all in the 12th minute. Picking the ball up in the midfield, Queralt carried the ball deep into Wildcat territory to the top of the arc, ripping off a reverse shot to the far post and beating Northwestern keeper Katie Lynch at 12:10 with an unassisted goal.
Queralt now has 44 points on the season which ties former Ohio State All-American Yesenia Luces for 10th on the single season points record list, making her just the third freshman in Buckeye history to break into the Top 10 of the category.
With things clicking on offense, Ohio State continued to pressure NU's defense. Sophomore Maria Briones gained control of a deflected ball three yards out from the Wildcat's goal and moved through traffic to score her 12th goal of the season and third gamewinner at 19:15.
Tunitis, playing in her second game of the season, made two saves while Lynch made one for Northwestern.
After the halftime, Ohio State made a switch at goal, bringing in senior goalkeeper Lindsay Quintiliani who made four second-half stops to ensure the Buckeye win. The Ohio State offense was still on the attack, posting five shots, including a penalty stroke situation. Queralt just missed, hitting the post on the free position.
Northwestern also made changes between the pipes in the second half with Amanda Wirth playing 26:50 and facing no shots while Jaimie Orrico played 8:10 and made two saves.
