March 5, 2011
University Park, Pa. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team fell to their second ranked opponent in as many games, dropping a tough 6-5 overtime decision against No. 12 Ohio State at Penn State's Bigler Field. Nittany Lion goaltender Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) was stellar in the loss, registering 16 saves, including three in overtime. Freshman attackman Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.) led the Penn State offense with two goals and one assist.
Ohio State struck first just over a minute into the first quarter, as the Buckeyes' Tyler Frederick took a feed in tight from Logan Schuss and deposited the ball behind Kaut. That would be the only offense the Buckeyes could muster in the quarter however, as Penn State settled in and scored four straight goals. Sturgis got the Lions on the board at the 10:00 mark on a feed from junior captain Matthew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.). Sophomore Billy Gribbin (Rockville, Md.) registered his first goal of the 2011 campaign to take the lead just a minute and a half later from Kyle VanThof (Penfield, NY.), a lead that the Lions would not relinquish until the last minute of the game. Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) scored unassisted at the 6:55 mark, and then Gribbin struck again on a Sturgis assist to put Penn State in front 4-1 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw several quality offensive possessions from both sides, but neither team could solve the other's goaltender for much of the period. The Buckeyes got the only goal of the second period as Zach Boyt scored unassisted at the 2:36 mark, sending the game into halftime with Penn State ahead, 4-2.
The third quarter was much of the same, until Sturgis found himself playing a cat-and-mouse game with Ohio State defender Matt Kowamota. The Nittany Lion freshman held the ball at X, faking back and forth, waiting for Kowamota to overcommit. Finally Sturgis found his lane and beat the Buckeye's long-stick to his left side, burying the shot to finish the individual effort and push the lead to three. The Buckeyes would answer at the 1:32 mark however; as Jeff Tundo scored on a Schuss assist for Ohio State's only tally of the quarter.
The fourth quarter was dominated by the Buckeyes, as a Ryne Sternberg (Toronto, Canada) illegal body check gave Ohio State a one minute extra-man opportunity at the 8:18 mark. The Buckeyes capitalized, as Brock Sorensen buried a Tundo feed to move Ohio State within one. A Penn State turnover with under a minute left gave the ball to Ohio State, and Schuss beat the Penn State freshman with :34 seconds on the clock, sending the game to overtime.
The three overtime periods saw several sustained offensive possessions from both sides, a number of clutch saves from Kaut, and a :30 second man-up opportunity that Penn State could not capitalize on. It was the third overtime that would see the golden-goal however, as Schuss would find a loose ball in front of the Penn State goal, and bury it behind Kaut to seal the game for the Buckeyes, and give them their second overtime victory against the Lions in as many years, at the 3:18 mark of overtime number three.
Ohio State outshot Penn State 44-36, including a 22-14 edge in shots on goal. But Nittany Lion freshman goalie Kaut was superb all afternoon. Kaut ended the game with 16 saves, including five in the fourth quarter and three in the overtimes to keep Penn State in the game. Kaut now has 41 saves and has allowed only 19 goals in three games as a freshman starter in the net for Penn State.
Penn State sophomore Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) won six of 17 face-offs for the Nittany Lions and had four ground balls. The Penn State man-up failed to score on three chances, while the Buckeyes were 1-1. The Nittany Lions had 19 turnovers to only 14 for Ohio State. Penn State is now 1-2 on the year while Ohio State moves to 4-1. The Nittany Lions will travel to Villanova on Tuesday, March 8 for a 7 p.m. contest, before returning home to host Rutgers on Saturday, March 12 for a 3 p.m. faceoff at Bigler Field.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 5, Ohio State 6
SCORING (Goal, Assist):
1st: OSU 13:39 (Tyler, Schuss) PSU 10:00 (Sturgis, Mackrides), PSU 8:37 (Gribbin, VanThof), PSU 6:55 (Dolik), PSU 5:20 (Gribbin, Sturgis)
2nd: OSU 2:36 (Boyt)
3rd: PSU 5:49 (Sturgis), OSU 1:32 (Tundo, Schuss)
4th: OSU 7:52 (Sorensen, Tundo), OSU 0:34 (Schuss, Pires)
OT1: None
OT2: None
OT3: OSU 3:18 (Schuss)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 35 OSU 34 MAN-UP OPPS: PSU 0-3, OSU 1-1
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 36-14, OSU 44-22 FACE-OFFS: PSU 6-17, OSU 11-17
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU Austin Kaut (68:42, 16 SV, 6 GA), OSU Greg Dutton (68:42, 9 SV, 5 GA)
SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 OT O2 O3 F
PENN STATE 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 5
OHIO STATE 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 6
RECORDS: Penn State 1-2, 0-0 CAA; Ohio State 4-1
ATTENDANCE: 547