Ohio State falls, 2-1, to Penn State in the first round

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Despite a strong push late in the second half, the No. 2-seeded Ohio State field hockey team suffered a 2-1 loss to No. 7 Penn State Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2009 Big Ten Championship in East Lansing, Mich. 

"When you go down 2-0, especially giving up a goal with 0.0 on the clock in a penalty corner situation, it is battle to come back from," Anne Wilkinson, Ohio State head coach, said. "In the second half we had a lot of opportunities but we just couldn't put away chances. It takes two halves and we needed to play the first half like we did it in second half."

Down 2-0 at the half, Buckeye forwards Berta Queralt and Maria Briones paired to cut the Nittany Lions' lead to one as Briones fed a pass to Queralt who beat PSU goalkeeper Ali Meves high at 49:01.

Ohio State continued to hold possession, earning five-consecutive penalty corners in the next eight minutes. Briones and Aisling Coyle each had a shot saved and junior Jena Cacciatore hit the post as the Buckeyes put up six shots but were unable to notch the game-tying goal.

In the first half, the Buckeye defense limited the Nittany Lions to just three shots, all of which came on off of penalty corners. Penn State was able to capitalize on its final two penalty corners as Kelsey Amy tallied in the 30th and 35th minute.

For the game, the Scarlet and Gray held a 13-4 advantage in shots while penalty corners where nearly even as Ohio State had eight and Penn State seven.

In the net, Buckeye goalkeeper Lindsay Quintiliani, who is 12-5 on the year, made one save while PSU keeper Meves recorded five stops. Coyle posted a game-high five shots while Cacciatore and Briones had three apiece.

The squad, 13-6 overall and 14th in the latest RPI, now awaits the 2009 NCAA Championship selection show at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The show will be broadcasted live online at NCAA.com.

Note:
With 46 points this season on 17 goals and 12 assists, rookie Berta Queralt is tied with two-time All-American Britta Eickhoff (1994-97) for ninth on the all-time single-season points record list. Both Eickhoff and Queralt recorded 46 points as freshmen at Ohio State with just three-time All-American and U.S. Olympic Team member Sue Marcellus scoring more as a rookie with 80 points in 1976.