Feb. 27, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 6-2 in non-conference action at Penn State's Bigler Field. The Fighting Irish overcome a strong effort from Penn State goalie Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) to score three fourth period goals and grab the win.
Notre Dame scored the game's first goal when Nicholas Beattie put the Irish on the board with 12:36 on the clock. Penn State answered with a man-up goal six minutes later as Matthew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) scored off a Colton Vosburgh (Kennett Square, Pa.) assist at the 6:06 mark. The Irish took the lead for good, however with just nine seconds left in the period. Zach Brenneman scored as the period wound down to put Notre Dame up 2-1 after one period.
The Irish got the only goal of the second period as Ryan Foley scored unassisted at the 13:29 mark. The goal gave Notre Dame a 3-1 lead heading into intermission. Penn State, however, answered with the lone goal of the third period. Tom LaCrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.) scored with 7:49 left in the third period to inch Penn State to within one, 3-2.
The fourth period was Notre Dame's as the Fighting Irish reeled off three unanswered goals. Max Pfeifer scored a man-up goal with 11:15 on the clock, Westy Hopkins scored less than a minute later and Eric Keppeler scored off a Sean Rogers assist with 3:50 left in the game to give Notre Dame the 6-2 win.
Notre Dame outshot Penn State 42-19, including a 21-10 edge in shots on goal. But Nittany Lion freshman goalie Kaut was superb all afternoon. Kaut ended the game with 15 saves, including five in the opening period and five in the third to keep Penn State within striking distance. Kaut now has 25 saves and has allowed only 13 goals in two games as a freshman starter in the net for Penn State.
Penn State sophomore Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) won seven of 12 face-offs for the Nittany Lions and had two ground balls. Penn State's penalty killing unit was solid as Notre Dame scored only once on four man-up chances while Penn State scored once on two. The Nittany Lions had 16 turnovers to only eight for the Fighting Irish.
Penn State is now 1-1 on the year while Notre Dame moves to 2-0. The Nittany Lions will entertain Ohio State on Saturday, March 5, at 1:30 p.m. The game will be played at Bigler Field unless otherwise announced.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 2, Notre Dame 6
SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: ND 12:36 (Beattie), PSU 6:06 (Mackrides, Vosburgh), ND 0:09 (Brenneman)
2nd: ND 13:29 (Foley)
3rd: PSU 7:49 (LaCrosse)
4th: ND 11:15 (Pfeifer), ND 10:28 (Hopkins), ND 3:50 (Keppeler, Rogers)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 28 ND 25 MAN-UP OPPS: PSU 1-2, ND 1-4
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 19-10, ND 42-21 FACE-OFFS: PSU 7-12, ND 5-12
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU Austin Kaut (60:00, 15 SV, 6 GA), ND John Kemp (60:00, 8 SV, 2 GA)
SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F
PENN STATE 1 0 1 0 2
NOTRE DAME 2 1 0 3 6
RECORDS: Penn State 1-1, 0-0 CAA; Notre Dame 2-0
ATTENDANCE: 412