Feb. 26, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 16 Penn State women's lacrosse team suffered an 8-7 setback to Albany (2-0) in its home opener at Holuba Hall on Saturday afternoon. The back-and-forth affair featured four ties and five lead changes.
Junior midfielder Elaine Welch (Bernardsville, N.J.) led the Nittany Lions with two goals while senior attacker Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.) and freshman attacker Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.) notched one goal and one assist each. Junior goalkeeper Dana Cahill (Towson, Md.) turned in another strong performance in net, recording nine saves, including seven in the first half.
Albany struck first, scoring with 28:45 on the clock, but that lead wouldn't hold as Penn State evened the score up at 1-1 less than two minutes later when Welch netted her second goal of the season. The Nittany Lions controlled play for the ensuing 10 minutes, getting goals from Steadman and Cyr to build a 3-1 lead.
After Albany's Taylor Frink chipped into the PSU advantage with her lone goal of the game at the 14-minute mark, senior midfielder Laura Lesnick (Jarrettsville, Md.) found net to extend the lead back to two. However, back-to-back goals by UA's Nikki Branchini in the final 11:21 of the half would knot the game at 4-4 as the first half ended.
Following the break, after a scoreless early part of the second half, Welch converted on Penn State's first free position opportunity of the season to regain the lead for the Lions. Albany responded, though, with two goals over the next eight-plus minutes to claim its first lead since early in the first half and swing momentum back in its favor.
Freshman Lizzy Carney (West Chester, Pa.) then scored her first career goal and senior Jackie Eastman (Springfield, Pa.) netted her first goal of the season to put Penn State back on top at 7-6 with 13:14 remaining in the game.
Albany again answered back, netting back-to-back goals, including what would prove to be the game winner by Rachael Burek at the 6:29 mark. Penn State could not put together a final rally, failing to muster a shot before the game's conclusion.
The Nittany Lions owned a 19-17 advantage in ground balls and caused seven of the Great Danes' game-high 13 turnovers but were hampered by a 12-5 disparity in draw controls and a 1-for-5 performance in free positions attempts.
Penn State will conclude its brief two-game home stand on Wed., March 2 when it hosts regional foe Bucknell for a 7 p.m. contest in Holuba Hall. The Nittany Lions own a perfect 14-0 all-time record versus the Bison, including last year's 15-2 rout in Lewisburg. Penn State has dominated the last five meetings, three of which took place in University Park, outscoring Bucknell by a combined 90-21 margin.
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