No. 6 Penn State Rallies to Edge No. 19 Iowa, 2-1

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Oct. 25, 2013

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 19th-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 6 Penn State Friday afternoon at Grant Field. Iowa led, 1-0, with 21 minutes remaining, before Penn State scored the final two goals. The Nittany Lions (12-3, 5-0) improve their winning streak to 11 games, while ending the Hawkeyes’ winning streak at five.

Both defenses excelled in the first half as neither team found the back of the goal after 35 minutes of play. Iowa (10-6, 2-3) out-shot Penn State in the opening period, 7-6.

“We did a good job getting shots in the first half of play,” said head coach Tracey Griesbaum.

The Hawkeyes came out firing in the second half as freshman Stephanie Norlander scored off a feed from Natalie Cafone for her seventh goal of the season. Norlander beat the Nittany Lion goalkeeper on the backhand to put the home team up by one.

Penn State – who earned a share of the regular season conference title with the win — fought back and tied the game roughly nine minutes later as Jenna Chrismer scored to tie the game at one. Brittany Grzywacz scored the eventual game-winner for the visitors at the 52:55 mark.

“We played to win today,” said Griesbaum. “We didn’t back down.”

The Hawkeyes return to action Sunday, hosting UC Davis. Iowa will honor its senior class at Grant Field prior to the start of the match, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (CT).