Penn State’s women’s lacrosse team came up short in its quest for a national championship. The team’s title dream came to an abrupt end in Saturday night’s quarterfinal game against Northwestern. The Wildcats got out in front early and never looked back knocking off the Nittany Lions 15-7.
Penn State staged a second half rally after falling behind 13-3 at the half but couldn’t overcome five free-position goals by Northwestern in the opening 30 minutes.
The Wildcats opened the game on a 5-0 run and spent much of the first half in the Nittany Lions end. Freshman goalkeeper Emi Smith struggled early in net and was eventually replaced by redshirt senior Ayla Halus. Penn State had faced Northwestern twice before Saturday night’s contest, falling both times, but had held the Wildcats close in a 9-8 overtime loss only a few weeks earlier.
The Nittany Lions ended the season having advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second straight season, finishing the 2013 campaign with a 14-7 overall record. The ALC regular season tri-champions also finished the season with the program’s most wins since 1999.
