Ohio State won a penalty shootout 5-4 against Penn State Friday night to advance to the Big Ten Championship at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium in St. Paul. After playing to a 2-2 tie through 110 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods, both teams had made one kick before Buckeye keeper Lauren Robertson stopped a shot by Penn State's Zoe Bouchelle, which was the deciding save in the contest.
The Buckeyes took an early lead when defender Lauren Beachy laid a ball to fellow defender Keiana Mitchell, who then passed it towards midfielder Alex Burzynski. Burzynksi took control of the ball and shot it into the upper right corner for her sixth goal of the season.
In the 76th minute Penn State scored the equalizer with a shot by midfielder Danielle Toney. Teammate Katie Shoepfer crossed it towards Toney, who proceeded to knock the ball into goal.
Just three minutes later Penn State added another goal when Schoepfer beat Robertson to the lower left corner of the goal.
With five minutes left in the game the Buckeyes answered with a goal of their own. Lisa Collison played a ball towards forward Carla Arbulu, who tied the game with a ball to the lower right corner from 10 yards out.
In overtime Penn State had an early opportunity with a shot by forward Aubrey Aden-Buie that sailed over the crossbar. Their second chance came minutes later when Schoepfer's shot went wide of the goal.
The game came down to a shootout with the Buckeyes winning 5-4. This was only the second time this season the Nittany Lions have allowed two goals, with the first instance coming in their first game of the season.
Ohio State will face Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. The game will be shown live via the Big Ten Network.
