March 28, 2009
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -
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The freshman tandem of Jack Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) and Matthew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) sparked the Penn State Nittany Lion lacrosse team, but their efforts were not enough in a hard-fought 9-8 loss at Massachusetts. Forster had four points and Mackrides notched two goals in the ECAC road loss.
Massachusetts got on the board fast and first, getting a man-up goal from Mike Fetterly at the 13:48 mark. The Minutemen went up 2-0 on a Tim Balise goal just five minutes later. Penn State quickly tied the score, however, when Jack Forster scored unassisted at the 4:25 mark and Chris Hogan (Wyckoff, N.J.) took a Jack Forster assist two and a half minutes later.
With the score notched at 2-2 in the second, Nittany Lion Colton Vosburgh (Kennett Square, Pa.) used a pass from Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) to put Penn State up 3-2 less than a minute into the period. UMass quickly tied the score when Jim Connolly scored just over a minute later. Jack Forster took a Conrad Ridgway (Audubon, Pa.) feed at the 9:41 mark and the Nittany Lions retook the lead, 4-3. But UMass reeled off three unanswered goals (from Balise, Ryan Hantverk and Connolly) to give the Minutemen a 6-4 lead at intermission.
Penn State cut into the UMass lead in the third period, outscoring the hosts 2-1. Mackrides got his first goal of the game at the 8:53 mark and Rob Forster took a pass from younger brother Jack and found the goal with :58 left in the third to knot the score at 6-6. But UMass was able to dampen the Penn State rally when Balise got the ball past Penn State keeper Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.) with just :19 left to give the hosts a 7-6 lead heading into the final period.
The teams traded goals in the fourth period with Penn State tying the game at the 14:15 mark off an unassisted goal from Vosburgh. UMass' Art Kell answered at the 5:21 mark to put the Minutemen back on top 8-7. Mackrides wasted no time in tying the score, taking a Matt Shankoff (Flemington, N.J.) assist seconds later to tie the game at 8-8. The Nittany Lions and Minutemen appeared destined for overtime, but Connolly scored his third goal of the game with just :55 left to play to lift the hosts to a 9-8 win.
Jack Forster had two goals and two assists while Mackrides and Vosburgh had two goals a piece. Rob Forster had a goal and an assist. Adams ended the game with 13 saves. The Nittany Lions outshot UMass 48 to 39 and had 35 ground balls to UMass' 32. The teams split the game's 21 face-offs, with Penn State winning 11 and Massachusetts winning 10.
Penn State is 3-5, 0-3 in the ECAC while UMass is now 5-3, 2-0 in the ECAC. The Nittany Lions will host No. 17 Hobart on Saturday, April 4, in a 1 p.m. battle. The contest will be played at Jeffrey Field, weather permitting.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 8, #14 UMass 9
SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: UM 13:48 (Fetterly, Pedrick), UM 8:43 (Balise, Hayes), PSU 4:25 (J. Forster), PSU 1:59 (Hogan, J. Forster)
2nd: PSU 14:05 (Vosburgh, R. Forster), UM 12:53 (Connolly, Hayes), PSU 9:41 (J. Forster, Ridgway), UM 7:48 (Balise), UM 6:09 (Hantverk, Liebel), UM 1:27 (Connolly, Zorkers)
3rd: PSU 8:53 (Mackrides), PSU 0:58 (R. Forster, J. Forster), UM 0:19 (Balise, Marcus)
4th: PSU 14:15 (Vosburgh), UM 5:21 (Kell), PSU 5:08 (Mackrides, Shankoff), UM 0:55 (Connolly)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 35, UM 32 MAN-UP OPPS: PSU 2-2, UM 1-5
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 47-23, 39-22 -- FACE-OFFS: PSU 11-21, UM 10-21
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU Drew Adams (60:00, 9 GA, 13 SV); UM Doc Schneider (60:00, 8 GA, 15 SV)
SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F
PENN STATE 2 2 2 2 8
MASSACHUSETTS 2 4 1 2 9
RECORDS: Penn State 3-5, 0-3 ECAC; Massachusetts 5-3, 2-0 ECAC
ATTENDANCE: 1,383