LEWISBURG -- After Maddy Evans ripped one of Penn State's 30 shots on goal late in the second overtime Wednesday night, her response to what happened next was pretty much par for the course for the Nittany Lions.
As Bucknell keeper Kat Sutton deflected another shot away from goal, the PSU freshman was left face down inside the penalty box, pounding her fist into the soggy turf in frustration at Emmitt Soccer Field.
Sutton frustrated the Nittany Lions from the first shot to the 30th shot Wednesday, matching Penn State All-American keeper Alyssa Naeher save for save as the Bison came up with a huge result, playing to a scoreless draw with the Nittany Lions in front of the largest crowd of the year at Bucknell.
"This is the best we've played this year and even if we would have lost, I still would have been proud of the way we played," said Bucknell coach Ben Landis, a former assistant coach for Penn State head coach Erica Walsh.
It was the first time in 14 meetings all-time that Penn State did not defeat the Bison. The Nittany Lions won 4-2 in Happy Valley in 2008 and 5-1 in Lewisburg in 2007. Penn State has now gone 19 consecutive matches without losing to an opponent from Pennsylvania, but for a while Wednesday it looked like this might finally be the night.
The Bison (4-5-1) had three terrific scoring chances in the first half to take a lead, and had another shot bounce off the crossbar early in the second half. And while Bucknell was not as dangerous over the final 35 minutes of regulation and through the two overtime periods, the way Sutton was playing things were in good hands. The senior from Coatesville made a career-high 11 saves to break Bucknell's record with her 13th career shutout. But it wasn't just the number of saves she made; it was the nature of them.
Half of Sutton's saves were of the Oh my gosh' variety. They came early, including on Penn State's (4-4-1) first shot less than four minutes in. They came late, as in the stop of Evans in the waning moments of the game. And they came in the middle, including a trio of amazing saves within a span of four minutes midway through the second half. In the end, neither team was able to break through on the standout keepers.
"That's as good a game as you will see from two goalkeepers," said Landis. "That was spectacular goalkeeping on both sides."
Playing against a team with the pedigree of Penn State, Sutton knew she was going to have to step up, and she did. She swallowed up a shot on Penn State's first dangerous chance and was on the spot when Shikellamy alum Megan Monroig got a pair of shots off on corner kicks for the Nittany Lions.
"We've played Penn State every year since I've been here and you know what they have," Sutton said. "They have top forwards and a national-level keeper, so you know you have to play well. But I wanted my defense to feel like if something got by them, I was going to take care of it."
The Bison could have had a lead early when South Williamsport grad Christa Matlack's hard-luck season continued. Matlack made two moves to get past the defense and had Naeher beat, but her shot clanked off the left post. Moments later, Kelliann Doherty put a header on net that Naeher had to dive to save.
"It was our game to win in the first half and their game to win in the second half," said Landis. "We were unlucky a couple of times hitting the post. We came to win the game, but it was a great result for us."
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Bucknell, Penn State play to scoreless draw
Goalies outstanding as Bison, Lions play to scoreless draw
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