April 17, 2010
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Persistence paid of for the Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team Saturday night at Jeffrey Field as it pulled off the 11-10 overtime win against visiting No. 11 Hofstra. The victory marked the first CAA win of the season for the Nittany Lions, who are now 2-9 (1-2 CAA) on the year. With the loss, Hofstra falls to 7-4 (1-3 CAA). Freshman Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) got the game-winner in overtime, one of three goals on the day, while Matt Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) added four.
Penn State got on the scoreboard first for the third game in a row, jumping out to a 1-0 lead a little over two minutes into the game on a goal from freshman Kyle VanThof (Penfield, N.Y.). The man-up goal was assisted by freshman Billy Gribbin (Rockville, Md.). Hofstra answered when Stephen Bentz netted an unassisted goal at the 9:51 mark in the first quarter, knotting the game at 1-1.
PSU leading scorer Matt Mackrides got his first of four goals on the day with 2:28 remaining in the quarter to take the lead back, 2-1. Pride attackman Jay Card tied the game again 47 seconds before the quarter ended, making it 2-2 on his unassisted score.
The teams entered the second quarter even, and the game would stay that way as the defenses ruled for over six minutes to start the quarter. Hofstra broke the stalemate when Jamie Lincoln started a five-goal Pride run. Steve DeNapoli and Brad Loizeaux also each had a goal in the run with Kevin Ford adding two scores to push the margin to a 7-2 Hofstra advantage. The Nittany Lions weren't done, however, as a pair of goals from Mackrides brought Penn State within three goals, 7-4, before halftime.
Penn State fought hard in the third quarter, chipping away at the Hofstra advantage one goal at a time. More offensive magic from Mackrides started the scoring for Penn State in the third quarter at the 10:41 mark. The man-up goal came on an assist from redshirt-senior Chris Hogan (Wykoff, N.J.), bringing the Nittany Lions within two goals, 5-7. After another six minutes of scoreless lacrosse, freshman Nick Dolik added another score for Penn State off a feed from Van Thof. Penn State's five-goal run was capped-off by a goal from Hogan, tying the game at 7-7 and bringing the Jeffrey Field crowd of 657 to their feet.
Loiseaux drew the Pride ahead by a goal again when he netted an unassisted goal with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter. PSU's Dolik found the net next, however, as the see-saw battle continued. The 8-8 tie was the fourth of the day, but the drama was not over.
Penn State took the lead for the first time since the first quarter when senior Anthony Basciano (Holtsville, N.Y.) scored his first goal of the day and gave the Nittany Lions a 9-8 lead. Hofstra scored the next two goals on conversions from Ford, his third of the day, and Lincoln, his second.
With 2:34 remaining in regulation, the Nittany Lions charged back to tie the game at 10 a piece, on Gribbin's first goal of the day. Dolik assisted on the goal and despite some good chances, the game went into overtime. The game was the second overtime contest for the Nittany Lions and after dropping the first overtime game to Ohio State 11-10, Penn State was looking for a reversal of fortune.
With the game hanging in the balance, the first team to score would go away victorious. Penn State won the face-off, and freshman Dolik took control and scored the game-winning goal 50 seconds into the overtime. The Nittany Lions swarmed the night's hero in the corner of the field in celebration while the Hofstra reaction proved to be quite different after the upset was complete.
"This is a great win," said Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel. "The couple goals we got at the end of the first half gave us enough energy to lead into the second half.
"I'm proud of our defense. They took Hofstra out of their rhythm. (Goalkeeper Dave) Baker was solid in the second half and I knew if we could stick around we had a chance to win and we won."
Penn State visits the Towson Tigers next Saturday for a 1 p.m. match-up on April 24. The Nittany Lions return home for their regular season finale on Friday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m.