Today in Penn State sports: Nov. 5, 2017
Everything you missed in Penn State sports — and isn’t covered elsewhere in the CDT — from Sunday:
Women’s soccer
Nittany Lions rally for Big Ten championship
WESTFIELD, Ind. In spite of weather delays Sunday, the Penn State women’s soccer team rallied to defeat Northwestern 2-1 to claim their seventh conference championship.
The Nittany Lions were seeded fifth in the tournament, while the Wildcats were No. 2.
Northwestern took a 1-0 lead with 7:32 left in the first half, when the game was “temporarily” suspended due to the weather. It resumed about two hours later and after that, with 20 minutes left in the game, Penn State scored twice to take the title.
“We had every built-in excuse that we could possibly need to not perform today,” Nittany Lions coach Erica Dambach said. “And this team’s been through so many ups and downs that it’s no surprise to me — they’re at a point where they’re ready to take on everything.”
Laura Freigang scored with 19:28 left in regulation, and Haleigh Echard scored the game-winner with 11:42 left. Freigang was named the Offensive Player of the Tournament, while teammate Kaleigh Riehl was the Defensive Player of the Tournament.
Emily Ogle also earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
The No. 15 Nittany Lions receive an automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA tournament with the victory. The brackets will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Field hockey
PSU falls in Big Ten title game
EAST LANSING, Mich. The No. 5 Nittany Lions fell to No. 3 Michigan on Sunday in the Big Ten championship by a close 1-0 score.
Esther de Leijer broke the scoreless game in the 64th minute on an assist by Carly Bennett.
The Nittany Lions had more shots on goal — by a 9-to-6 margin — but Wolverines goalkeeper Sam Swenson made nine saves for the shutout. Penn State’s Jenny Rizzo had five saves.
“We sadly didn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we had, especially in the first half,” PSU coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss said in a news release. “I think we’ve really elevated our competitiveness, which I really like, that this tournament brings out. So this puts us in a good mindset for the NCAA tournament.”
Penn State’s Maddie Morano and Cori Conley were both named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team.
Wrestling
Nevills wins, Hall loses in exhibition
PRINCETON, N.J. Penn State All-Americans Nick Nevills and Mark Hall both took part in the NWCA All-Star Exhibition on Sunday, with Nevills coming out with the win and Hall finishing with a loss.
Nevills defeated Arizona State’s Tanner Hall 2-0, while the Nittany Lions’ Mark Hall lost to Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia 3-2 after a late takedown.
Penn State opens its season up with duals against Army West Point on Thursday and Bucknell on Sunday.
Men’s tennis
Mixed results at invitational
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. Penn State went 1-1 in doubles play and 2-2 in singles play Sunday at the William & Mary Invitational.
Ben Lieb and Matt Galush combined to beat Harvard’s pair 7-5. Galush and Gabriel Nemeth both won their singles matches.
The invitational wraps up the fall portion of the men’s tennis team’s schedule. It will resume again in January.
Women’s tennis
No wins at 2 tourneys
The Penn State women’s tennis team lost all their matches Sunday at the Kitty Harrison Invitational and the Hokie Invitational.
At the Kitty Harrison Invitational — in Chapel Hill, N.C. — PSU lost four singles matches. In the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., the Nittany Lions lost two singles matches and a doubles match.
Those were the final tournaments of the fall. Penn State will compete again in January.
Men’s basketball
PSU wins exhibition
UNIVERSITY PARK The Nittany Lions came away with an 84-67 victory over Bloomsburg on Sunday in the final exhibition game of the season.
Five Nittany Lions finished in double digits. Shep Garner paced Penn State with 17 points, while Lamar Stevens had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with 15 points. The others in double figures were Nazeer Bostick (11), Tony Carr (11) and Josh Reaves (10).
Penn State will open the regular season on Nov. 10 against Campbell.
Men’s fencing
Metryka wins Open title
UNIVERSITY PARK Penn State’s Karol Metryka won the championship Sunday at the Garret Open in the men’s sabre, while teammate Mohamed Hassan finished second in the foil.
The Nittany Lions will next compete in a Junior/Cadet/Y-14 NAC event on Nov. 11-13.
Men’s soccer
Game rescheduled for Monday
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. The Penn State game against Indiana was postponed Sunday due to weather and will take place at noon Monday.
The winner of the Big Ten tournament game will advance to the Big Ten semifinals on Friday.
This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 9:38 PM with the headline "Today in Penn State sports: Nov. 5, 2017."