March 19, 2011
AMHERST, Mass. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team notched a signature victory over No. 10 Massachusetts, 8-7 to open CAA conference play in Amherst, Mass. The Lions never trailed in the game, relying on a game-leading four goals from sophomore Kyle VanThof (Penfield, NY) and a standout effort from freshman goalie Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.). Kaut's 25 stops stand as the most saves registered in a game by any player in NCAA play this season.
Penn State wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard, as freshman Tom LaCrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.) got the Lions on the board with an unassisted tally at the 12:51 mark. The Lions would never look back, as classmate Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.) notched his first goal of the game just under two minutes later at 10:55. VanThof would close out the Penn State scoring in the quarter, putting the Lions up 3-0 with an unassisted tally at 7:13. The Minutemen would score the game's next two goals, and the quarter would end with the Lions ahead 3-2.
VanThof scored the only goal of the second quarter for either side, burying a Gavin Ahern (Rockville Centre, NY) feed to push the Lions' lead to a deuce at the 11:43 mark. That is where the score would stand as Penn State went into halftime leading the 10th ranked Minutemen, 4-2.
Massachusetts came out strong in the second half, as Anthony Biscardi cut the Penn State lead in half at the 11:16 mark of the third quarter. Senior midfielder Colton Vosburgh (Kennett Square, Pa.) would regain a two-goal lead for the Lions however, notching an unassisted tally at 7:59. The rest of the quarter was all UMass, as the Minutemen scored two goals less than a minute apart to tie the game at five after three quarters of play.
Penn State opened the fourth quarter with two straight goals, as LaCrosse notched his second of the game on a Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) assist, and VanThof registered the hat trick with an unassisted goal at 9:25. UMass came right back however, cutting the Penn State lead back to one with a goal from Art Kell at 8:35. The next seven minutes saw a flurry of chances for both sides, with neither team able to strike until VanThof buried his fourth and final goal of the game, an unassisted tally with 1:10 to play. Biscardi got the Minutemen back within one with a tally at 0:56, but Kaut stood tall in the final minute for the Lions, and Penn State completed the upset with an 8-7 final score.
Massachusetts out shot Penn State 38-27 including a 32-19 edge in shots on goal. But Nittany Lion freshman goalie Kaut delivered another stellar performance for Penn State, as his 25 saves kept the Lions in front for the duration of the game. VanThof paced the Lion offense, accounting for half of the team's goals and setting a career-high with his four tallies.
Penn State sophomore Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) won six of 17 face-offs for the Nittany Lions, while senior captain Matt Shankoff (Flemington, NJ) led the squad with three ground balls.. Penn State's penalty killing unit was solid as UMass scored only once on four man-up chances, while Penn State's man-up unit was blanked on two opportunities. The Nittany Lions had 22 turnovers to only eleven for the Minutemen.
Penn State is now 3-3 on the season with two victories over ranked foes. The Lions move to 1-0 in CAA play on the year while UMass falls to 5-2, 0-1 in the conference. The Nittany Lions will continue CAA play as they entertain St. Joseph's on Saturday, March 26, at 1:00 p.m. The game will be played at Bigler Field unless otherwise announced.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 8, Massachusetts 7
SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: PSU 12:51 (LaCrosse), PSU 10:55 (Sturgis), PSU 7:13 (VanThof), UM 4:56 (Kell, Biscardi), UM 1:45 (Fetterly, Biscardi)
2nd: PSU 11:43 (VanThof, Ahern),
3rd: UM 11:16 (Biscardi, Fetterly), PSU 7:59 (Vosburgh), UM 2:21 (Smith, Kell), UM 1:36 (Fleming, Hantverk)
4th: PSU 12:02 (LaCrosse, Dolik), PSU 9:25 (VanThof), UM 8:35 (Kell, Manny), PSU 1:10 (VanThof), UM 0:56 (Biscardi, Manny)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 27 UM 34 MAN-UP OPPS: PSU 0-2, UM 1-4
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 27-19, UM 38-32 FACE-OFFS: PSU 6-18, ND 12-18
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU Austin Kaut (60:00, 25 SV, 7 GA), UM Tim McCormack (60:00, 11 SV, 8 GA)
SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F
PENN STATE 3 1 1 3 8
MASSACHUSETTS 2 0 3 2 7
RECORDS: Penn State 3-3, 1-0 CAA; Massachusetts 5-2, 0-1 CAA
ATTENDANCE: 1387