Penn State completely flips the script, finally ends pesky 16-game streak

Every single game that saw the Penn State Nittany Lions field hockey team fall behind at any point during the 2025 season resulted in a loss (0-10), marking the school's first season without any comeback victories since 2015 as they failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament for the second consecutive year.

Penn State had come close to ending that streak on a number of occasions through the first half of 2026. They overcame a 3-0 deficit against the No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers in the season opener, only to fall 4-3 in overtime.

They had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds against the No. 4 and reigning national runners-up Princeton Tigers after falling behind 2-0 in the first half, again falling just one goal short.

They tied the game against the No. 5 Maryland Terrapins at 1, before a fourth-quarter downpour preceded three straight Terps goals. And they had the chance to tie the game against the No. 19 Monmouth Hawks with a late penalty stroke attempt after falling behind 2-0, once again losing by just a single goal.

It was an ongoing theme of "almost" comebacks, all against ranked teams. They simply continued to struggle to get over that hump.

Now they've gotten over that hump, and they've done it against a ranked team.

Penn State secures first comeback win since 2024 after late offensive surge

After trailing in the fourth quarter against the No. 19 Lafayette Leopards, a team that had only lost once this year (and by just one goal to the No. 1 and two-time reigning national champion Northwestern Wildcats), Penn State responded in convincing fashion.

The game was a defensive battle through the first three quarters, with a 0-0 score entering Q4 that extended Penn State's shutout streak to 12 consecutive quarters dating back to their 2-1 loss to Monmouth two Sundays prior.

Continuing the trend of massive defensive improvement under first-year head coach Hannah Prince, that streak was the school's longest defensive shutout streak since posting 15 consecutive shutout quarters at one point in 2022. They went on to win that year's Big Ten regular season title and made a run to the NCAA national semifinals.

But you've got to score if you want to win. And in the final nine minutes of regulation, the tense defensive contest suddenly turned into a field hockey iteration of 2018 Rams vs. Chiefs, with goals suddenly pouring in from all different directions on both sides.

Lafayette got on the board with just under nine minutes remaining, and a minute and a half later, Penn State sophomore Olivia Marthins tied things up off of assists from senior captain Natalie Freeman and freshman Lilly Holmes.

In only her second career start, Marthins, the Big Ten's leading scorer from 2025 among those who did not make a single start, added another goal just 36 seconds later. The goal was initially credited to Freeman, but after Marthins' pass appeared to be deflected into the cage off of a Lafayette defender's stick, she was given credit upon further review, giving her a career-high five goals in 2026 and her first career multi-goal game.

The game looked like it was following a similar pattern to the Lafayette game from a year ago. The Leopards took a 1-0 lead, Penn State responded with two in a row, and Lafayette tied it late in regulation to send it to overtime.

That's exactly what happened this time around, with Lafayette's second goal coming off of a penalty corner opportunity with just over two minutes to play.

But unlike last year's game, this year's match would not go into a shootout.

Four and a half minutes into the extra 15-minute period, it was Nittany Lions leading scorer Ella Gaitan who fired a shot on goal that was deflected in off the stick of grad student Cam Standish, who was credited with her first goal as a Nittany Lion on Senior Day. It was her first goal since 2024, when she competed for Ohio State. Sienna Dunn was also credited with her Big Ten-leading 10th assist of the year on the game-winning play.

The victory ended a 16-game losing streak for Penn State in games that they had trailed at any point. The Nittany Lions had not previously recorded a comeback victory since they beat Michigan State 2-1 in overtime after trailing 1-0 in the fourth quarter back in October 2024.

During that 16-game losing streak, there were four games in which they managed to tie the score or even take the lead after falling behind, but they had simply been unable to get over the hump and win until now.

Penn State flipping the script in 2026

For Penn State, coming back and actually winning a game, rather than coming back and falling just short, is a huge deal. There's a saying that "sometimes you just gotta see one go through the hoop".

Sunday's result has the potential to provide a massive boost of confidence as they head into a stretch of six Big Ten games in 22 days, aiming to return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2023.

And it's not the only script they've flipped in 2026.

The Lafayette victory came just two days after a 1-0 shutout win against Rutgers, which ended Penn State's nine-game road losing streak in Big Ten play. They hadn't previously won a road conference game since October 2023. A year ago, they went only 1-8 overall on the road, with the one victory coming against a Lock Haven team that was 0-14 at the time. They're already 2-1 on the road this year.

With road contests against Michigan State, currently 0-4 in Big Ten play, and Kent State, currently 2-9 overall, scheduled for this coming weekend, the Nittany Lions are set to have a golden chance to double their 2026 road win tally. A win over the Spartans on Friday would get them to 2-0 in Big Ten road games.

And last but not least, the Lafayette win ended a six-game losing streak against ranked teams, dating back to October 2025. They were competitive in all four ranked games this season leading up to the Lafayette game, and they sealed the deal with their first overtime win of the year this time around, even after the Leopards forced overtime with a late fourth-quarter goal for the second straight year.

The Rutgers win was not a ranked win, although the Scarlet Knights were ranked earlier in the year. That said, Rutgers was ranked when they beat Penn State to wrap up the 2025 regular season, and that brings up another interesting note. Since allowing three goals in the first seven minutes of that game, Penn State gave up just one Rutgers goal over the teams' next 113 minutes of head-to-head competition. Talk about a total 180.

These shifts in a number of trends that were not going the Nittany Lions' way are evidence of something bigger. This team is clearly starting to reach their potential under Prince and the new coaching staff.

They were closer to breaking through in 2025 than they looked, and after one notable media outlet predicted before the season that "it'll take a few years before they can get back to [the Big Ten Tournament]", recent success has them inching closer and closer in Prince's first year.

This coming Friday's game against Michigan State is set to be broadcast live on B1G+ from East Lansing beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Penn State has won 18 straight games over the Spartans, a streak that dates back to 2010.

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