COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Twentieth-ranked Iowa rallied to defeat No. 6 Penn State in overtime on Friday 4-3 at Buckeye Varsity Field in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. The Hawkeyes erased a two-goal deficit, and trailed again by a goal before scoring with no time on the clock to send the game to overtime.
It marks the 10th trip to the tournament championship game for Iowa. The Hawkeyes have claimed five tournament titles in program history (1981, '94, 2006, '07, '08).
"Our team is finally showing what we've been capable of all year," Iowa head coach Tracey Griesbaum said. "No better stage to show everyone what you are made of than in the Big Ten tournament."
Penn State jumped out to an early lead with a goal in the first minute of play. Jenna Chrismer scored for the Nittany Lions after a failed clearing attempt by the Hawkeyes. Penn State added to its lead at the 22:20 mark of the first half as Taylor Herold scored a one-timer off a feed from Whitney Reddig.
Iowa fought back at the start of the second half as sophomore Natalie Cafone put the Hawkeyes on the board at the 46:09 mark in the second half to cut the score in half. Cafone broke away from the defense and beat the Penn State goalkeeper low and to the right for her 20th goal of the season.
The Hawkeyes stayed on the offensive as roughly 11 minutes later the Hawkeyes were awarded a penalty stroke. It was up to Marike Stribos to tie the game for the Hawkeyes and she converted, beating the Nittany Lion goalkeeper low and to the right.
"Being down two goals against a team like Penn State is never fun," Griesbaum said. "We knew if we kept working hard, eventually we would get a break."
With 1:11 remaining, Penn State was awarded a penalty stroke after Iowa illegally stopped a shot off a Penn State penalty corner. Brittany Grzywacz took the penalty stroke and scored to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead with just more than a minute to play.
The Hawkeyes maintained their composure after the go-ahead goal and forced a penalty corner with seconds remaining. By the time senior Niki Schultheis put the ball in play off the penalty corner, time had expired. Junior Dani Hemeon received the pass, avoided several Nittany Lion defenders, and scored on the backhand with no time left in the game to send the match into overtime.
With all the momentum on its side, Iowa controlled the overtime period from the start. The Hawkeyes took possession from the Nittany Lions and passed to Cafone who took care of the rest. Cafone flew past the Penn State defense and scored her second goal of the game 2:26 into overtime to send the Hawkeyes to Sunday's championship game.
"We dominated overtime," Griesbaum said. "I don't think Penn State ever crossed the 50 yard line. Total team effort; I'm proud of the way we played."
Iowa, the No. 5 seed, will face No. 3 seed Michigan State on Sunday in the championship of the Big Ten tournament.
No. 1 Maryland 3, No. 8 Duke 2 (OT)
NEWTON, Mass. -- Maxine Fluharty scored 3:52 into the first overtime to propel Maryland past Duke 3-2 in the first ACC tournament semifinals matches on Friday afternoon.
Off of a penalty corner, Fluharty collected a rebound in traffic in front of the cage to poke the ball past Blue Devil goalkeeper Lauren Blazing for her 12th goal of the season.
With the victory, Maryland advances to the finals of the ACC Field Hockey Championship for the eighth time in the past 10 seasons. Since the inception of ACC field hockey in 1983, the Terrapins have been a participant in the league’s championship game in 22 of the 31 tournaments held -- winning a total of nine titles.
Maryland stormed out to a 2-0 lead on the Blue Devils, who one day prior defeated Virginia in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Forward Alyssa Parker put the Terrapins on the board first at the 8:44 mark of the first half, as she deflected a shot by Jill Witmer past Blazing for her seventh tally of the season.
Following multiple scoring chances, Maryland cashed in again, as Emma Rissinger scored her sixth goal of the season after Witmer sent another shot toward the cage. This time, Blazing allowed a rebound to her right that Rissinger punched home to give the Terrapins the two-goal lead.
The Blue Devils managed to even the score with a strong second half that included five shots and two penalty corners.
A goal by Abby Beltrani, her second of the season, off a pass from Grace Christus brought Duke to within one with 16 minutes remaining.
With less than four minutes left in regulation, the Blue Devils knotted the contest at two on a goal by Hannah Barreca off of a penalty corner. Assisting on the tying goal was Beltrani and Emmie Le Marchand.
Fluharty’s goal just under four minutes into overtime improved the Terrapins to 3-0 on the season in extra time. The Terrapins finished with 21 shots and five penalty corners, while Duke produced seven shots and five penalty corners.
No. 3 North Carolina 1, No. 2 Syracuse 0
NEWTON, Mass. -- Behind the efforts of goalkeeper Sassi Ammer and midfielder Emily Wold, North Carolina defeated Syracuse 1-0 to advance to Sunday’s ACC Field Hockey Championship.
With the victory, the Tar Heels move on to face Maryland at 1 p.m. Sunday. The game marks a repeat of the 2012 title game that saw North Carolina win its 18th league championship with a 4-2 victory.
The lone goal of Friday’s match came at the 24:11 mark of the first half. With Syracuse working in its own defensive end, Tar Heel Emma Bozek intercepted a pass by a Syracuse back and then worked the ball to teammate Loren Shealy. Driving down the sideline to goalkeeper Jess Jecko’s right, Shealy sent a centering pass toward the cage, where a diving Wold pushed the ball past Jecko for the 1-0 lead.
On three separate occasions, it looked as though the Orange would knot the contest at one.
In the closing moments of the first half, the Orange made a bid to for the eqaulizer, but came away empty after two penalty corners that produced scrambles in front of the cage. Ammer made four saves, including two point-blank attempts on Syracuse attackers.
With the clock approaching the 68th minute, Syracuse found the back of the cage on a shot from outside the circle that appeared to deflect off of Ammer. After video review, the call on the field was overturned, as officials determined that the ball went in untouched by both the North Carolina defenders and Ammer.
The Orange earned one final corner as time expired in the contest, but the North Carolina defense cleared the ball to clinch a spot in the title game.
The Tar Heels managed five shots and zero penalty corners in the game as they avenged a 1-0 loss to the Orange less than a week earlier. Syracuse registered nine shots and four penalty corners.
North Carolina’s shutout marked the first time since Oct. 3, 2010 in a 2-0 loss against Massachusetts that Syracuse has been shutout – a span stretching 74 matches.
No. 5 Old Dominion 2, No. 14 Louisville 0
STORRS, Conn. -- Old Dominion (13-6) defeated Louisville (15-5) by a 2-0 final in the Big East semifinals on Friday night. The Lady Monarchs won their 12th game in a row and play No. 1 seed UConn on 1 p.m. Sunday for the Big East championship.
“We played consistently well throughout the game,” ODU head coach Andrew Griffiths said. “We moved the ball really effectively, even on an icy field. The second half we were a bit more balanced attacking the circle from different angles and it paid off. Louisville is a quality team and it’s a good win for us.”
Old Dominion obtained the first corner chance in the first half, but was unable to put away a goal. ODU and Louisville finished the half tied with three shots apiece and the game was scoreless.
In the second half, the Lady Monarchs received a goal from an unlikely candidate. Nicole Goff scored her first goal of the year at 60:35 with Kelsey Smither receiving the lone assist. Eight minutes later, Katy Fuhrman tallied the second goal of the night for ODU on an empty net, and Fuhrman’s fourth of the year with an assist going to Goff.
ODU outshot Louisville by an 11-4 final tally and had three penalty corners to the Cardinals two. ODU goalkeeper Megan Hept made two saves, recorded her eighth shutout in her past 12 games in net, and earned her 13th win of the year. Louisville goalkeeper Sydney King stopped four shots on goal and fell to 15-5 record on the season.
ODU was led by Goff and Villagra’s three shots, followed by Sarah Breen and Katy Fuhrman with two and Christy Longacre with one.
No. 7 Connecticut 3, No. 19 Temple 0
STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut got an early goal just 6:44 into the game from senior Anna Jeute and never looked back, defeating Temple 3-0 in Big East semifinal showdown on Friday night at the George J. Family Sports Complex. With the victory, UConn moves into its 12th consecutive Big East tournament final set to be played at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Huskies will face the winner of the Old Dominion/Louisville Semifinal contest. Connecticut moves to 16-4 (6-1), while Temple drops to 14-6 (4-3) with the loss.
UConn struck first when Juete sent a back-handed shot from the top of the circle past the dive of Temple goalie Lizzy Millen. The goal marked Jeute’s ninth of the season and moves her up to fourth on the team with 30 points.
Just more than 15 minutes later, Roisin Upton doubled the Husky lead, knocking home her 12th goal of the season on a drag flick off a corner penalty at 22:08. Juete and Chrissy Davidson were credited with assists on the play.
The Huskies added a late goal in the waning minutes of the second half when Chloe Hunnable took a cross from Marie Elena Bolles on a fast break and beat Millen, giving the Huskies a 3-0 lead with under nine minutes remaining.
“An important thing is that we were able to get the shutout,” UConn head coach Nancy Stevens. “Going forward into championship play, if you’re really stout defensively you have a much better chance to win. We have three shutouts in our last three games and we’re really happy about that.”
The Huskies are now 5-2-1 all-time against the Owls, and have out-scored their conference foes 10-0 in two games this season. The Huskies boast a 7-3-0 record against opponents ranked in the NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll.
Stevens, who had led UConn to each of its 10 Big East tournament titles, now holds a 32-10 record in conference tournament matchups. With the win, she moves to 567 career wins, extending her own all-time record.
Sarah Mansfield finished the game with three saves in the net for UConn, including an acrobatic stop on Molly Doyle’s shot late in the first half. Her counterpart, Millen, made five saves but allowed each of UConn’s three scores.
