March 11, 2008
Final Stats l Final Stats (PDF)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa; March 11, 2008 - The Penn State Nittany Lion lacrosse team downed visiting Villanova 12-3 in its first home game in a month. Penn State dominated the first half, breaking out to a big lead that it rode to the final margin of victory. Junior Ryan McAleenan (Grand Rapids, Mich.) sparked Penn State with three goals, all of which came in the first half.
McAleenan's goals were bolstered by two goals and two assists from Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.), who lead Penn State with four points. The Nittany Lions outshot Villanova 39-20 and Penn State goalie Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.) helped Penn State maintain its lead with 9 saves while giving up only one goal in three-plus quarters of action.
Forster got Penn State on the board early, scoring unassisted at the 12:50 mark. But Villanova answered quickly when Mark Scioscia took an assist from R.J. Lyons in front of the net and tied the game just :32 later. McAleenan put Penn State back up by one, taking an assist from Colby Rhodes (La Jolla, Calif.) at the 7:58 mark and knocking in a long shot to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead. McAleenan then put the Nittany Lions up by two, scoring close in, unassisted, at the 2:17 mark to help Penn State hold a 3-1 lead after one period of play.
Andrew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) added to Penn State's lead, taking a Forster assist on a fast break immediately after Penn State killed a hold-over Villanova penalty at the start of the second quarter, zipping the ball past `Nova goalie Andrew DiLoreto at the 14:29 mark. The fast start, however, did not last as the teams traded shots over the next ten minutes. The Nittany Lions took advantage of a Villanova penalty to up its lead to 5-1 when Max VanArsdale (Rochester, N.Y.) scored a man-up goal off an assist from Rhodes. The goal came at the 3:26 mark. McAleenan scored his third goal shortly thereafter, taking an assist from VanArsdale at the 1:46 mark and putting Penn State up 6-1 with the long-range goal.
Sophomore Brian Shea (Gaithersburg, Md.) then exploded for two early goals in the third period. He first knocked in an unassisted goal from the right side of the net at the 13:32 mark and then took an assist from Forster less than a minute later and within three minutes of the period's start, Penn State was leading 8-1. Forster added to Penn State's lead, weaving in from behind the goal and tossing the ball past the Wildcat goalie with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
Tim Driscoll took a Jay Foley pass shortly after Penn State killed a penalty early in the fourth quarter to get the Wildcats back on the board, scoring at the 12:11 mark to cut Penn State's lead to 9-2. But Mackrides quickly answered back, scoring unassisted at the 8:56 mark to give the Nittany Lions a 10-2 lead. Freshman Billy Lloyd (West Chester, Pa.) added a solo goal at the 4:54 mark and then followed it up with another goal, this time off an Earl Ross (Shoreham, Vt.) assist with just 4:46 left to play. Driscoll scored the game's final goal, scoring with just 1:12 left to play.
The Nittany Lions won 12 of 17 face-offs and had 42 ground balls compared to Villanova's 28. Villanova was led by Tim Driscoll, who had two of the team's three goals. Goalie Andrew DiLoreto had 15 saves, playing the entire game.
Penn State improves to 2-3 with the win, 0-1 in the ECAC. Villanova falls to 1-4 The Nittany Lions will host Vermont on Saturday afternoon in a 12 p.m. game in Holuba Hall.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 12, Villanova 3
SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: PSU 12:50 (Forster), VU 12:18 (Scioscia, Lyons), PSU 7:58 (McAleenan, Rhodes), PSU 2:17 (McAleenan)
2nd: PSU 14:29 (Mackrides, Forster),PSU 3:26 (VanArsdale, Rhodes), PSU 1:46 (McAleenan, VanArsdale)
3rd: PSU 13:32 (Shea), PSU 12:47 (Shea, Forster), PSU 3:13 (Forster)
4th: VU 12:11 (Driscoll, Foley) PSU 8:56 (Mackrides), PSU 4:54 (Lloyd), PSU 4:46 (Lloyd, Ross), VU 1:12 (Driscoll)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 42, VU 28 -- EMO: PSU 2-2, VU 0-8
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 39-27, VU 20-14 -- FACE-OFFS: PSU 12-17, VU 5-17
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU Drew Adams (54:05, 2 GA, 9 SV; Greg Boyle 4:11 0 GA, 1 SV; John Nichols 1:44, 1 GA, 1 SV
| SCORE BY QUARTERS: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
| PENN STATE | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| VILLANOVA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
RECORDS: Penn State 2-3, 0-1 ECAC; Villanova 1-4
ATTENDANCE: 272