UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Nov. 8, 2003) - An exhausted Timarie Legel (Morgantown, Pa.) scored the game-winning goal with 6:41 remaining in the first overtime period to give Penn State a 1-0 upset victory over No. 1 seed Michigan Saturday at the Big Ten Tournament.

The Nittany Lions advance to the Big Ten Tournament final and will play the winner of No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Ohio State, which play at 2 p.m. Saturday. The final is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday at Bigler Field.

Senior Neilye Stoner (Manheim, Pa.) dribbled from midfield to near the left side of the circle, beating three Wolverine defenders along the way, to feed Legel at the top of the circle. Michigan goalkeeper Beth Riley came out to defend, but Legel got her stick on the ball to beat Riley and give the fourth-seeded Nittany Lions the victory.

"I thought I was going to miss it because it was bouncing, so I just kind of hit it and it went in," Legel said. "I told the radio (during an interview) that I gave all of the credit to Neilye because she beat three defenders to just get the ball out there. That was all her."

The win breaks a two-game losing streak against the Wolverines, who had beaten Penn State in five of the last six meetings between the schools.

"I think that there was somewhat of a revenge factor," said head coach Char Morett. "You hate to say it, you don't want that to be the motivational factor when you play another team. ...Coming off such a great victory yesterday and a great performance, I think it was an easier transition to come and want to play a team like Michigan and prove to ourselves that we're capable of playing at this level."

Both teams missed on good scoring chances in the first half as the game went scoreless into the break. Junior Karin Grap (Van Etten, N.Y.) had the first good chance of the game when her shot deflected and went just wide with 27:27 remaining.

The action picked up and went end-to-end during the second half. The Nittany Lions missed the first good chance of the half when junior Mary Schaefer (Hummelstown, Pa.) missed on a wide open shot after a cross came through the circle with 32:06 remaining.

The Wolverines followed that up with two immediate chances down the other end in which senior Annie Zinkavich (Kingston, Pa.) made two good saves to keep the game scoreless. Zinkavich finished with seven saves in the game and recorded her second career shutout in Big Ten Tournament play.

Penn State had a prime opportunity when, with 27:24 left, Michigan's Stephanie Johnson was pulled off the field because she was given a yellow card. The Wolverines played short a player for more than five minutes, but the Nittany Lions couldn't muster a shot on goal.

Shortly after Johnson came back in the game, Michigan had three straight penalty corners and couldn't capitalize. Lori Hillman got a hard shot on goal, but Zinkavich made a kick save to keep it scoreless.

With 17:45 remaining, sophomore Molly Schriver (Kenilworth, Ill.) cleared a ball out of harms way in which Michigan had two quality scoring chances.

The Nittany Lions escaped trouble at that point and caught a break with 17:00 remaining in the game. Johnson received a green card for a minor infraction and then was given a red card by the official, meaning she was ejected from the game, giving Penn State a one-player advantage for the remainder of the game.

Despite playing short a player, Michigan had a great chance with 8:25 remaining when AdrienneHortillosa missed just wide on a shot that made its way through traffic.

Neither team had any good chance heading into the two 15-minute sudden-victory overtime periods.

Michigan, which is ranked fifth in the last STX/NFHCA poll, is eliminated from the tournament and will wait to see who it plays in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which kicks off next weekend.

"We're obviously very disappointed," said Michigan head coach Marcia Pankratz. "We came to win the Big Ten Tournament and do the best we can. We felt like we were coming in and we were in great shape to do that. Just a little bad luck today, so we're clearly disappointed and we knew it was going to be difficult because it's a great conference and there's a lot of wonderful teams out there."

Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament
(Saturday at Bigler Field)

 No. 4 Penn State 1 No. 1 Michigan 0 (OT) First-half Scoring None Second-half Scoring None Overtime 1. Timarie Legel, PSU, (Neilye Stoner) 73:18. Shots: PSU - 7; UM - 18. Saves: PSU - 7; UM - 1. Corners: PSU - 5; UM - 10. Records: PSU - 17-5, 3-3; UM - 15-4, 5-1.

Next game: No. 4 Penn State versus No. 2 Michigan State/No. 3 Ohio State winner in Big Ten Tournament final, 1 p.m. Sunday at Bigler Field; Michigan awaits NCAA first-round opponent.