| Junior Brian Boyle added to his team-leading assist total with three more assists in Penn State's 11-6 road win at Fairfield on Saturday. |
Game Box and Season Statistics
State College, Pa. ?C March 25, 2006 ?C The Penn State Nittany Lion men??s lacrosse team downed Fairfield 11-6 in an ECAC Lacrosse League road game, getting four goals from senior John Eremus (Rosemont, Pa.) and outstanding goalkeeping from freshman Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.). The win evens Penn State??s record at 3-3, 1-1 in the ECAC Lacrosse League, while Fairfield sports identical 3-3, 1-1 marks.
Eremus scored all four of his goals in the second half while Adams shut down the Stags, allowing only one second half goal. The duo helped the Nittany Lions break open a close game, one that was tied 5-5 at the half.
Fairfield looked like it was going to walk away with the game early, scoring the game??s first three goals and leading 3-0 before Greg Gurenlian (Springfield, Pa.) scored at the 20:04 mark of the first half, off an assist from Brian Boyle (Derry, N.H.). Boyle assisted on the game??s next goal, this one coming from teammate Bubba Scott (Rockville, Md.) early in the second half. Penn State completely erased the early Fairfield lead when Pat Heim (Wayne, Pa.) scored unassisted at the 8:11 mark of the second period, tying the game at 3-3.
The teams would trade goals for the remainder of the second stanza, with Fairfield??s Chris Manley scoring, followed by another Scott goal for Penn State. Travis Nelson scored for Fairfield at the 1:13 mark, giving the Stags a chance to take a slim lead into the locker room. But Nittany Lion Andrew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) tied the game with an unassisted goal with just :10 left to send the game into intermission all square at 5-5.
Eremus and Adams then took over. While Adams was amassing nine second half saves, Eremus put Penn State up for good with a goal off a Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) assist at the 7:14 mark. Eremus would score again just a minute later and would then assist on a Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.) goal with 4:06 left in the third, putting Penn State up 8-5. Fairfield??s Nelson would score the Stag??s last goal with 1:14 to go, the only blemish on an otherwise perfect second half in the net for Penn State??s Adams.
Eremus added two more goals before Forster closed out the game??s scoring with a score at the 10:55 mark of the fourth quarter, this one coming off Boyle??s third assist of the game.
Adams ended the game with 11 saves, nine of which were in the second half against ten shots on goal. Eremus had four goals and an assist, Forster had a goal and two assists and Boyle had three assists to lead Penn State??s offensive efforts.
Head coach Glenn Thiel??s crew was out-shot 28-26, but thanks to Gurenlian, Penn State won 13 of 20 face-offs. Fairfield goalie Mike Kruger had 10 saves in the contest.
The Nittany Lions will next take the field on Saturday, April 1, when they host Massachusetts in another ECAC contest. Game time is set for 12 p.m. at Jeffrey Field. The game will be played in Holuba Hall in case of inclement weather.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 11, Fairfield 6 SCORING (Goal-Assist): 1st: FC (Thornton), FC (Boudreau-Thornton), FC (Bocklet-Stanton), PSU (Gurenlian-Boyle) 2nd: PSU (Scott-Boyle), PSU (Heim), FC (Manley), PSU (Scott), FC (Nelson- Martin), PSU (Mackrides) 3rd: PSU (Eremus-Forster), PSU (Eremus), PSU (Whitaker-Eremus), FC (Nelson- Thornton), PSU (Eremus-Forster) 4th: PSU (Eremus-Gurenlian), PSU (Forster-Boyle) GROUNDBALLS: PSU 22, FC 25 - EMO: PSU 0-7, FC 2-4 SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 26-21, FC 28-17 FACE-OFFS: PSU 13-20, FC 7-20 GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU (Drew Adams 60:00 min, 6 GA, 11 SV); FC (Mike Kruger 60:00 min, 11 GA, 10 SV) SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F PENN STATE 1 4 4 2 11 FAIRFIELD 3 2 1 0 6 RECORDS: Penn State 3-3, 1-1 ECAC; Fairfield 3-3, 1-1 ECAC UP NEXT FOR PSU: Penn State hosts Massachusetts, Saturday, April 1, 12 p.m.