The Penn State Field Hockey team is riding a four-game losing streak following their recent gauntlet of a road stretch against four of the top 15 teams in the country.
They nearly started that stretch with a massive win at Syracuse in a game which proved they are more than capable of competing with elite competition at any venue, but a 2-1 lead turned into a 3-2 deficit, and ultimately defeat, in the final minute and a half of the fourth quarter.
And while the defense allowed just four combined goals against Michigan and Ohio State, down from 10 a year ago, it wasn't enough to snatch a win from either Big Ten rival.
Then came this past Friday's trip to Evanston to take on reigning national champion Northwestern, the No. 1 team in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll and at that point one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the country.
Penn State's offense was shut out for the second time in six days, but the defense, anchored by grad student Anouk Knuvers after she missed the entire 2024 season with an injury, again improved year-over-year after allowing seven goals to Northwestern a season ago.
Sophomore goalkeeper Aby Deverka registered a season-high 10 saves and actually improved her season-long save percentage against the Wildcats' potent offensive attack, a significant achievement in a season which has already seen her goals against average drop substantially – by over a full goal per game – from her freshman year.
Despite dropping that game 4-0, Penn State now owns an impressive record this season that not even Northwestern can claim any longer.
Nittany Lions remain unbeaten at home
After Monday, no Big Ten team other than Penn State can make the claim that they've not lost a single home game this season.
Northwestern is now 2-1 at home following Monday's loss to Princeton, which was their first regular season loss of any kind since 2023. They are 11-1 overall, still ranked No. 1 in the country, and still considered among the favorites to win the national title.
Penn State is 5-0 at Char Morett-Curtiss Field this year, and that stretch includes an overtime triumph over Saint Joseph's, the team Northwestern beat in the 2024 national championship.
Freshman Olivia Marthins scored the game-winning goal off an assist from sophomore Katelyn Strawser in that game to give Penn State their first win over a team that played in the previous season's national title game since 2021.
That perfect record also includes a double overtime win over Delaware, when senior Ella Jennes scored the game-winner. Penn State has played just one conference game at home so far this year, and that was a shutout win over Michigan State, a game in which both Marthins and Jennes scored again.
That win contributed to a stretch of nine consecutive quarters and overtime periods in which Penn State held their opponents without a goal, another testament to the strength of the defense and the exceptional play of Deverka, Knuvers, sophomore Morgan Snyder, sophomore Madison Britton, and freshman Cooper Cutchins.
Their other wins came against Bucknell and Kent State, the latter featuring a season-high five goals. Of the 11 players, most for Penn State in a single season since 2019, who have scored at least one goal this year, five did so in that game alone: Jennes, Snyder, senior Aubrey Semler, freshman Joji Purdy, and junior Natalie Freeman.
Purdy leads the team with four goals this year, and she's also tied for the Big Ten lead in goals among players who have not started a game. She and Freeman are tied for the team lead with nine points apiece.
No place like Happy Valley?
Of course, for as good as they've been at home in getting off to their first 5-0 start since 2021, the Nittany Lions have experienced road woes which have led to an 0-7 start away from State College, worst in the Big Ten.
But this is a team whose 17-game regular season schedule featured 10 schools ranked inside the top 16 in the preseason NFHCA poll, tied for the most in the country.
Six of those seven road losses came against teams that, on paper, you'd have expected to win, and the other loss at Lafayette in a shootout is one that every member of the team probably wishes they could have back.
Penn State's perfect home record is set to be tested this weekend, with Big Ten foes Iowa and Indiana scheduled to visit Happy Valley on Friday, October 17 and Sunday, October 19, respectively. Friday marks three weeks since the team's most recent home game against Michigan State, and it gives them a chance to go for their first 6-0 start at home since 2016.
Big Ten race heats up
At 1-4 in conference play, Penn State currently sits seventh in the Big Ten standings, ahead of winless Indiana and Michigan State. With the top seven teams slated to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, the game against Indiana is particularly crucial if Penn State is to get in after missing out for the first time ever a year ago.
Yes, a win over Iowa, which sits sixth in conference play, would also be a welcome result. But a loss to Indiana, coupled with needing to depend on Iowa to lose the rest of their conference games, excluding the game against Michigan State, seems risky, especially if the tiebreaker process becomes involved to set the tournament field. Iowa, which notably already beat Indiana, is also undefeated on the road.
The formula for a top seven finish in the Big Ten standings appears relatively straightforward for Penn State, even without a win over Iowa: beat Indiana, because it's highly unlikely that the Hoosiers will upset at least two of Maryland, Ohio State, or Michigan to vault themselves ahead of the Nittany Lions.
Though it’s not their last scheduled home game of the season, Sunday's game against Indiana is Penn State's final weekend home game of the season, and as a result, it's Senior Day. Knuvers, Jennes, Semler, Sophia Mannino, Morgan McMenamin, and Madison Tambroni are all set to be honored.
Penn State's remaining regular season schedule beyond this weekend features road contests against Lock Haven (Friday, October 24) and Princeton (Sunday, October 26), plus a season-ending home conference matchup against Rutgers (Friday, October 31). Should they qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, their opening round matchup would take place in Bloomington on Thursday, November 6.