Delaware Closes Season with Heartbreaking 2-1 OT Loss to Penn State in NCAA First Round

Saturday, November 11

Storrs, Conn.

2:00 PM

University of Delaware

(15-5)

Penn State

(17-4)

Team	1	2	OT 2	Final F
Delaware	0	1	0	1
Penn State	0	1	1	2

Delaware Closes Season with Heartbreaking 2-1 OT Loss to Penn State in NCAA First Round

11/11/2017 5:38:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Delaware Athletics

STORRS, Conn. – The No. 7 Blue Hens saw their year come to a halt in heartbreaking fashion Saturday afternoon as No. 6 Penn State topped Delaware, 2-1, in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Connecticut's George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.

With a scoreless tie coming out of halftime, Gini Bramley gave the Nittany Lions the advantage with her unassisted goal to open the second half of play.

Delaware junior Greta Nauck (at left; Krefeld, Germany/Gymnasium am Moltekplatz) knotted things up at 1-1 in the 65th minute after dribbling straight through the defense for her 25th goal of the year.

Neither team got a shot off in the final five minutes to send the game into overtime.

With 8:35 remaining in the extra stanza, Moira Putsch posted the game-winner for the Nittany Lions (17-4), who will face host and No. 1 seed UConn Sunday in second round action.

Senior Emmeline Oltmans (Baarn, The Netherlands/Het Baarnsch Lyceum) collected eight saves for the Blue Hens while classmates Kayla Devlin (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) and MacKenzie Meyer (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) each registered defensive saves.

The 2016 National Champions wrap their season with an overall record of 15-5.

POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Rolf van de Kerkhof
“This is NCAA Tournament action for you! We fought hard and improved throughout the game, but fell short in advancing. Our season journey may have come to an end and when reflecting on the 2017 journey, it is very clear that there is a lot to be proud of and excited about. Our players group became a great team allowing us to maintain a Top 10 program and winning another CAA Regular Season Title and CAA Tournament Championship. This year's team has done an outstanding job in confirming that UDFH is a program that has earned respect in the conference and nation.”

“On behalf of Blue Hen Nation, I want to share our sincere thanks and appreciation to our seniors – Lauren Crudele, Maggie Delp, Kayla Devlin, Taylor Lister, MacKenzie Meyer, Emmeline Oltmans – who have contributed to so much good as University of Delaware field hockey student-athletes academically, athletically and in the community. Thank you for all you have given and know that you leave this program in a better stage then when you arrived as FreshHens. We are looking forward to future dates with many Blue Hen Field Hockey Family members to re-joy and re-experience our amazing season journey and success stories.”

HEN SCRATCHINGS

· Delaware is 8-8 all-time and 1-2 in overtime contests in the NCAA Tournament.

· UD set a new program NCAA Tournament single-game record with two defensive saves.

· Emmeline Oltmans finishes her Blue Hens career by moving into sixth in the Delaware record books with 286 saves.

· Saturday's game marked the final career contest for Delaware seniors Lauren Crudele, Maggie Delp, Kayla Devlin, Taylor Lister, MacKenzie Meyer and Emmeline Oltmans.

· Greta Nauck ends the year ranked second in the Blue Hens single-season record books with 56 points and 25 goals while Taylor Lister was second with 20 assists.

MEDIA CONTACT: Maggie Hayon, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 302-379-9182