Wolverines Blank No. 14 Penn State to Begin Big Ten Play

Sunday, September 26

State College, Pa.

1:00 PM

Michigan

(6-4 (1-0))

Penn State

(6-3 (1-1))

Michigan

Penn State

Wolverines Blank No. 14 Penn State to Begin Big Ten Play

9/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Kent Reichert

Site: State College, Pa. (Field Hockey Complex)
Score: Michigan 2, #14 Penn State 0
Records: U-M (6-4, 1-0 Big Ten), PSU (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Oct. 1 -- vs. Michigan State (Ocker Field), 4 p.m.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The University of Michigan field hockey team toppled No. 14-ranked Penn State, 2-0, to open its Big Ten Conference schedule on Sunday (Sept. 26) at the PSU Field Hockey Complex.

Katie Adams

U-M posted a goal midway through each half and withstood seven Penn State penalty corners. Redshirt freshman goalie Haley Jones (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) made seven saves to extend the Wolverines' winning streak to a half-dozen games. The triumph also snapped PSU's five-game winning streak.

Senior Alicia Mayer (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) scored her second game-winning goal of the season and sixth tally overall at 21:48 of the first half. PSU's goalie had kicked a crossing pass seemingly out of danger to the top of the circle, but Mayer darted in front of a Nittany Lion defender to gain control, settled the bouncing ball and blasted a shot into the right of the cage before the goalie could react.

Fifth-year senior Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) made a great individual play with less than nine minutes to go to get within a few feet of the goalie. Laytos tried to lift the ball into the right side, but the goalie swatted the shot away with her left hand.

Jones made five first-half saves, including two stops in the opening five minutes, with one being a point-blank kick save. She also faced three consecutive penalty corners in the last five minutes of the half, making saves on both shots that came her way.

U-M weathered a rejuvenated Nittany Lion offense in the opening minutes of the second half before tacking on an insurance goal to take a 2-0 lead with 12:45 left. Redshirt junior Katie Adams (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) deflected a hard pass from senior Zara Saydjari (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan Area) behind the PSU goalie. Mayer was instrumental in the play, intercepting a clearing pass and sending the ball over to Saydjari.

The Wolverines return home this Friday (Oct. 1) to host rival Michigan State at 4 p.m. at Ocker Field.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	1	1	2
Penn State	0	0	0

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Alicia Mayer, 21:48 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Katie Adams, 57:15 (Zara Saydjari)

Shots: U-M 16, PSU 11
Saves: U-M 7 (Haley Jones), PSU 4 (Ayla Halus)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, PSU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 4, PSU 7

NOTES

• U-M improves its overall record against Penn State to 13-22. Michigan has won the last two meetings; U-M won last year's contest 2-0 on Sept. 27 in Ann Arbor.

• Michigan wins at Penn State for the first time since Oct. 30, 2004. The Wolverines won that contest 1-0 on a goal from Mary Fox.

• Michigan opens up Big Ten play with a win for the 16th time in school history. The last time that occurred was when U-M defeated Northwestern 3-0 on Sept. 27, 2008, to open the conference slate 1-0.

• Michigan has now won six straight games. The last time that occurred was in 2007 when the Maize and Blue had an 11-game winning streak from Sept. 14-Oct. 21.

• Alicia Mayer scored her fifth career game-winning goal in the win over the Nittany Lions. Mayer leads the team with 17 points and has a point in six straight contests. She also is tied with Rachael Mack for the team lead with six goals on the season.

• Haley Jones set a career high with seven saves and earned her third shutout of the season. Jones had 12 saves on the weekend and is a perfect 5-0 in net for the Wolverines.

• Today's game was televised live on the Big Ten Network. The Wolverines have one more game on the cable network on Sunday, Oct. 10, at Iowa. That game also will be televised live at 1 p.m. (Noon CDT).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On being happy with two good halves ... "Very happy. I thought our team played extraordinarily well. Penn State is a fantastic, fast team. I was really proud of our team to stay with them."

On U-M's push through the midfield in the second half ... "I think the young women just started to gain some confidence. They started to realize that they really could stand toe-to-toe with Penn State. They were executing under a lot of pressure."

On shutting out Penn State ... "I have to give a lot of the credit to Haley Jones. Haley's a redshirt freshman who's in her first Big Ten match and she played poised and strong and kept us in the game."