March 22, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 17 Penn State women's lacrosse team (4-4, 0-1 ALC) dropped its ALC season opener to No. 11 Vanderbilt (4-3, 1-1 ALC) on Sunday afternoon at Bigler Field by a 12-7 count.
For the second consecutive game, sophomore Laura Lesnick (Jarrettsville, Md.) and senior Marisa Lozano (Pittsburgh, Pa.) teamed to front the Penn State attack. Lesnick netted two goals, giving her 11 for the season, while Lozano pushed her team-high goal total to 13 and took over the assists lead with nine by notching two.
The Nittany Lion defense was solid, forcing 14 of Vanderbilt's 23 turnovers. Sophomore defender Maggie Dunbar (Cockeyville, Md.) was active, recording single game career highs in draw controls (6), caused turnovers (4), and ground balls (4). Junior goalkeeper Stephanie Ellis (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) registered seven saves under a barrage of 34 Vanderbilt shots and tallied a team-high five ground balls.
The Penn State offense was sluggish from the outset, going over 16 minutes without a goal to start the game. In a 2-0 hole, the Lions began to dig out when sophomore Katy Wick (Winter Springs, Fla.) got them on the board with her eighth goal of the year. Junior Erica Mihm (Annapolis, Md.) pulled PSU even with the Commodores with 5:09 remaining in the first half when she snagged a perfect pass from teammate Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.), knifed through the VU defense, and put a shot in net. However, Penn State defensive breakdowns late in the half allowed Vanderbilt to retake the lead with two unanswered goals and head to the break with a 4-2 advantage.
Much of the second half belonged to the Commodores, but it did not start that way. Back-to-back goals by junior Theresa Bucci (Hudson, Ohio) and Marisa Lozano through the first five minutes evened the game at 4-4. However, the momentum quickly and permanently swung back to Vanderbilt, as it then embarked on a 5-0 run. Junior Maria Valderas (Catonsville, Md.) briefly stemmed the tide with her ninth goal of the season, off a beautiful pass from Lozano, at the 10:04 mark, but a 3-0 run gave Vanderbilt an insurmountable 12-5 lead. Laura Lesnick tallied both of her goals in the game's final 3:04, but it was too little too late.
The Nittany Lions begin a three-game road swing next weekend when they travel to Williamsburg, Va. to face William & Mary (3-4) in a 1 p.m. match-up on Sat., March 28. Penn State is 21-7-1 all-time versus the Tribe, including last season's 18-12 victory in Holuba Hall. The Lions will continue their road stretch the following weekend when they head to Columbus, Ohio to face No. 2 Maryland (7-0) (April 3) and No. 6 North Carolina (6-2) (April 5) in the ALC/ACC Challenge.