Penn State Able to 'Handle the Hard' Moments During 4-Game Winning Streak

Penn State midfielder Kristin O’Neill readied on the free-position hash in overtime on Friday, the possibility of a sudden-victory win over then-No. 1 Northwestern held in the head of her stick.

When the whistle blew, she raced off the free-position line and sped past Northwestern’s defenders to bury the winning goal. Penn State’s entire roster was immediately in motion: the bench rushed the field, those on the field jumped and embraced, the whole group shouted.

Those moments felt like a “fever dream” for O’Neill.

“We were all just so excited to see each other and hug each other and celebrate that win that all 38 of us put in,” O’Neill said. “All week, we worked so hard — all year, too. But we were so focused all week. I wanted to hug everyone on our team and be so happy to celebrate that win together.”

The win over the Wildcats was particularly historical: the Nittany Lions hadn’t defeated Northwestern since 2018 and hadn’t beaten a No. 1 team since 2005. Penn State added another hard-fought victory to their four-game win streak and has since gone from unranked to No. 16 in the USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s Top 20.

A victory of Friday’s magnitude was uncharted territory for this Penn State team. But the game’s close, competitive nature certainly wasn’t. The Nittany Lions have won their past four games by a margin of two or less.

Those wins have provided confidence and “sense of ease” in other close-game moments, O’Neill said — including against Northwestern.

“We said, going into overtime, ‘It’s literally just one possession,’” O’Neill said. “All we have to do is score on one 7-v-7 possession like we do every day at practice. We didn’t make it a bigger deal than it was.”

Part of what contributed to Friday’s win: a culture of hard work and positivity at practice. The team had a good feeling last week, O’Neill said. The Nittany Lions knew Northwestern wouldn’t be an easy opponent, but they weren’t scared. Each drill at practice was purposeful. The team grasped that doing drills well would translate to good play on Friday.

Coach Missy Doherty said her team has embraced this attitude all season, even as the team went through their “rough stretch games.” Penn State is 6-4, having lost two in a row to Drexel and Loyola mid-season. Those games taught them how to “handle the hard,” she said.

“Our response to that is the reason we’ve been successful these last few games,” Doherty said. “It’s 100 percent due to our leadership. The leadership responded in the best way possible, thinking about what they could do to make the team better. They didn’t sit back. They got active and worked hard on and off the field.”

O’Neill is one of the Nittany Lions’ six team captains, all of whom have stepped up in different ways. Attacker Gretchen Gilmore tallied four goals in a recent contest against Rutgers, while O’Neill led Penn State with six goals against Northwestern. Defenders Rachel Spilker and Haley Urgo have been steady presences, racking up more than 20 ground balls each.

The group leads an upperclassmen-heavy roster, which O’Neill said has also been helpful in tough moments. In the past, she said Penn State would be nervous about who would step up in games. It hasn’t been an issue this season, as O’Neill’s teammates trust each other and the game plan.

The next challenge for the Nittany Lions: keeping the momentum going. Doherty said their success against Northwestern was collective, as O’Neill benefited from her teammates’ efforts and the defense played as a whole. Doherty wants to keep that spirit and confidence alive.

Penn State isn’t taking anything for granted with just five regular season games left.

“We want to make the most of every practice and game we have going forward,” O’Neill said. “Every Big Ten game is fun. We always want to bring the energy and remind each other of how we have to be to win every game.”