In the first ever match between the two in-state rival schools, Penn State routed Pitt, 15-7, on Tuesday in State College. With the loss, Pitt falls to 7-8 in its inaugural season and 1-6 in the ACC. The Panthers got their first ACC win in program history on Saturday over Louisville.
Penn State out-shot Pitt, 42-19. Of Penn State’s 42 shots, 27 were on net. Taylor Regan, Kristin O’Neil and Meghan Murray all scored hat tricks for the Nittany Lions. Regan also had three assists along with her three goals. Pitt committed 18 turnovers compared to Penn State’s nine.
Penn State got on the board first with two goals by O’Neil to give the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead. Pitt answered right back and scored two goals, one by Emily Coughlin and one by Sydney Naylor to tie the game at 2-2 with 9:48 remaining in the first period.
Julia Foster gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead after burying a shot into the back of the net at the 7:42 mark of the first period. A few minutes later, Penn State tied the game thanks to a goal by Mary Muldoon. Penn State retook the lead after Gretchen Gilmore cut to the net and put one behind Paulina DiFatta.
O’Neil fed one down low to Sydney Wolfington who ripped one past DiFatta to put Penn State up 5-3 with 14:04 remaining in the second period. After tallying an assist, O’Neil scored her third goal of the game to give Penn State a 6-3 lead.
Penn State continued to dominate and control possession, and scored on another set play after Gilmore found Regan cutting to the net. Murray and Regan then scored on free position shots to put the Nittany Lions up 9-3.
With Penn State having a player down, Pitt broke Penn State’s 7-0 run and Paige Petty scored on a free position shot to cut the Nittany Lions’ lead to 9-4. After two free position goals by Penn State and a goal by Pitt’s Maureen McNierney, the halftime score was 11-5 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
Penn State out-shot Pitt 22-11 in the first half. Pitt struggled to control possession in the first two periods and committed nine turnovers.
Murray joined O’Neil with a hat trick after a nifty move to get past a defender and beat DiFatta with a long shot to give Penn State a seven-goal lead. Gilmore then scored off a turnover to put Penn State up 13-5 with 7:04 remaining in the third period. It was the Panthers’ 12th turnover of the game. Pitt scored two goals in the fourth period but it was a little too late, as the seven-goal deficit was too big of a hole to climb out of.
Pitt’s next game is on Saturday, April 16, on the road against Notre Dame. The start time is at 12 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
