Feb. 29, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 18 Penn State women's lacrosse team will open its 2008 home schedule on Sun., March 2 when it hosts Colgate in a 1 p.m. match-up at Holuba Hall. In 2007, the Nittany Lions posted a 5-2 record in its indoor turf facility, including an 11-4 win over the Raiders.
In its 2008 season opener last weekend, Penn State dug itself a first half hole it could not get out of and, despite a late game rally, narrowly fell to Temple in Philadelphia, 8-7. Six different Nittany Lions netted goal, led by Mariel Bryan's (Folsom, Pa.) two scores in the contest's final two minutes. Senior goalkeeper Jess Boccio (Northport, N.Y.) went the distance in net for Penn State, collecting eight saves. Five of those saves came in the final period, when Boccio allowed just one early goal.
Colgate is coming off a 16-7 home loss to Cornell on Wednesday. Seven different Raiders found net, including leading scorers sophomore Brie Moran and senior Lindsay Pittard. Both attackers have tallied nine goals through four games. After opening the season with back-to-back losses to Stony Brook and Binghamton, Colgate gained its lone win thus far this season on Feb. 24 when it downed LaSalle, 14-9, in Hamilton, N.Y. The Raiders are a high scoring team, reaching double figures in goals in three of four games and boasting six players with five or more goals.
Penn State owns a perfect 7-0 all-time record in games versus Colgate. The Nittany Lions have won the last two meetings, in 2006 and 2007, by a combined score of 30-7. Last season, Jessi Lieb (Villanova, Pa.) tallied five points (3 goals, 2 assists) in the victory over the Raiders.
Next week, the Nittany Lions will welcome No. 2 Virginia (2-0) and William & Mary (2-2) to Happy Valley for a pair of games. On Fri., March 7, Penn State will take on ACC favorite Virginia in a 5 p.m. matchup. The Lions have dropped two straight to the Cavaliers, including a 13-6 loss last year in Charlottesville. Two days later, on Sun., March 9, Penn State will face William & Mary in a 1 p.m. contest. Last season, behind five goals from Kerry Shea (Baltimore, Md.), the Nittany Lions downed the Tribe, 12-4, in Williamsburg, Va. Both games will either be held indoors at Holuba Hall or outdoors on the turf of the newly resurfaced Bigler Field, depending on the weather.