UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 4 Penn State field hockey team captured its first Big Ten Title since 2008 and sixth in program history on Sunday afternoon, clinching the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions (15-3, 5-1) secure an automatic spot in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 2, with the first round beginning on Thursday, Nov. 1. The 2012 conference tournament will be hosted by the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The tournament winner will earn the Big Ten’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
With the Lions’ 6-1 win over No. 21 Michigan State, and No. 12 Iowa’s 3-2 overtime defeat of No. 8 Northwestern on Sunday, the squad became outright Big Ten Champions for the first time in four years.
With Iowa, Michigan and Northwestern tied at 4-2 in conference standings, the Wildcats will be seeded at No. 2 as they defeated the Lions earlier in the 2012 season. Northwestern will take on No. 7 Indiana on Nov. 1, while No. 3 Michigan will face No. 6 Ohio State and the No. 4 Hawkeyes will battle the No. 5 Spartans.
Top-seeded Penn State will face Iowa at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 2. The second semifinal, at approximately 5 p.m., will pit the winners of the Northwestern-Indiana and Michigan-Ohio State games. The final will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4.
The Big Ten Network will provide coverage of the entire tournament, as the quarterfinals will be streamed live on the Big Ten Digital Network. The semifinals and the championship game will be available both on BTN and BTN2Go.
Check back to GoPSUSports.com for continued updates during the 2012 season. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PennStateFH and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstatefieldhockey.