#4 UConn Field Hockey Beats #6 Penn State To Stay Undefeated

Sophomore midfielder Roisin Upton scored the first two goals of her career and senior Marie Elena Bolles added her second score of the season in overtime to propel the No. 4 University of Connecticut field hockey team to a 4-3 overtime victory over No. 6 Penn State on Sunday afternoon in University Park, Pa. With the win, the Huskies improve to 3-0 on the season while the Nittany Lions slip to 1-3.

The Huskies are now 18-16 all-time against Penn State and have won eight in-a-row against the Nittany Lions, including four-straight in Happy Valley. Connecticut’s last loss to Penn State came in 2006.

UConn is now 18-7 in their last 25 games against ranked teams, including 2-0 this season.

Senior All-American goaltender Sarah Mansfield made one of her 10 saves to thwart a Penn State penalty corner opportunity early in the first overtime session. The Huskies were opportunistic and turned it into a scoring chance of their own. Junior forward Anne Jeute led the break and dished to Bolles, who redirected it into the back of the net for the 13th game-winner in her career.

The Huskies struck first when Hunnable scored her second goal of the season at the 11:04 mark. After earning a penalty corner, Hunnable struck a shot from the top of the circle and by Kylie Licata. Penn State was able to restore parity when Whitney Redding slipped one past Sarah Mansfield.

However, the tie was short lived as Roisin Upton delivered the lead back to the Huskies with the first goal of her career. Upton took a feed from Hunnable in the circle and drilled a shot into the back of the net, reclaiming a 2-1 lead for UConn.

The Nittany Lions were able to knot it up at two goals apiece after Taylor Herold found the back of the net 13-minutes into the second half, but Upton’s second goal gave the Huskies a 3-2 edge that would be wiped away after Herold’s second goal of the game with less than two-minutes remaining in regulation.
Bolles had a chance to end the game in regulation but her shot with 44-seconds to go was turned away, setting up her overtime heroics.

Penn State held a 13-11 edge in shots on goal and Licata was able to turn away seven shots for PSU.

UConn is back in action on Friday, September 13 when the team welcomes Fairfield to Storrs for the 2013 regular-season home opener. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.

Reprinted with permission from UConnHuskies.com

by