April 2, 2011
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - In a game of runs, the No. 20 Penn State men's lacrosse team put one together when it counted, scoring the final three goals of the game to beating Lehigh in overtime, 8-7. Sophomore face-off man Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) scored the game-winner mere seconds into overtime to grab Penn State the one-goal non-conference road victory. The Nittany Lions are now 5-4 overall and remain 2-0 in conference play, while Lehigh falls to 6-5 (2-1 Patriot League).
Lehigh sophomores David DiMaria and Dante Fantoni put the Mountain Hawks ahead early, 2-0, with goals at 11:31 and 9:43 in the first period. A Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.) goal finally jump-started Penn State's offense at the 8:30 mark to narrow the Lehigh lead to one goal, 2-1. Junior Jack Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) added another for the Nittany Lions with 1:44 left in the opening period to knot the game at 2-2.
The second period was all Penn State, as the team rattled off three more goals, stringing together a 5-0 run on Lehigh. The Nittany Lions took their first lead of the day at the 11:14 mark on Sturgis' second goal of the afternoon, his team-leading 14th goal of the year. Junior Matt Mackrides ' (Newtown Square, Pa.) got into the action when freshman Tom LaCrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.) found him 8:34 before the half to make the score 4-2, Penn State. Nearly two minutes later, Penn State capitalized on a man-up situation for another goal when freshman Gavin Ahern (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) put the feed from Sturgis in the back of the net to stretch the Nittany Lion lead to 5-2 on his third goal of the year.
The third period belonged to the Mountain Hawks, who held the Nittany Lions scoreless for the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Lehigh started its comeback at 11:20 with Cameron Lao-Gosney scoring off a Jonathan Stumpf assist and narrowing the Penn State lead to 5-3. The Mountain Hawks added another score when DiMaria found Fantoni with 5:04 remaining in the third. The equalizer came with 2:22 left in the period when Alex Drake scored on an assist from DiMaria.
The teams went into the final 15-minute period even at 5-5 with the momentum in Lehigh's favor. The offensive onslaught continued for Lehigh in the fourth period. Fantoni's third goal of the day signaled the first lead for the Mountain Hawks since the opening period. Cameron Lao-Gosney assisted on the goal. Roman Lao-Gosney adding his name to the scoring column on a goal with 8:34 remaining to play to stretch the LU lead to 7-5.
Penn State was not done, however, as LaCrosse scored on a Sturgis assist to shave the lead back to a one-goal Lehigh advantage, 7-6, at the 6:25 mark of the fourth period. With time ticking away, Penn State drew the game even again when Mackrides hit for his second goal of the day and 10th of the season to tie the game at 7-7. The goal would eventually send the non-conference match-up into overtime.
Penn State wasted no time grabbing the overtime victory, with face-off man Henneghan taking command and scoring four seconds into the period to ice the 8-7 Penn State win.
Freshman Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) had 14 saves in the victory for Penn State, while Lehigh's Dan Carr tallied 16 saves.
Penn State hosts fellow CAA member Drexel at 1 p.m. next Saturday, April 9.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 8, Lehigh 7
SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: LU 11:31 (David DiMaria), LU 9:43 (Dante Fantoni), PSU 8:30 (Shane Sturgis), PSU 1:44 (Jack Forster)
2nd: PSU 11:14 (Sturgis), PSU 8:34 (Matt Mackrides, Tom LaCrosse), PSU 6:39 (Gavin Ahern, Sturgis)
3rd: LU 11:20 (Cameron Lao-Gosney, Jonathan Stumpf), LU 5:04 (Fantoni, DiMaria), LU 2:22 (Alex Drake, DiMaria)
4th: LU 12:04 (Fantoni, C. Lao-Gosney), LU 8:34 (Roman Lao-Gosney), PSU 6:25 (LaCrosse, Strugis), PSU 1:38 (Mackrides)
OT: PSU 3:56 (Henneghan)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 25 LU 38
MAN-UP OPPS: PSU 1-3, LU 1-3
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 35-8, LU 35-7
FACE-OFFS: PSU 9-19, LU 10-19
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU Austin Kaut (60:04, 14 SV, 7 GA), LU Dan Carr (60:04, 16 SV, 7 GA)
| SCORE BY QUARTERS: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F |
| PENN STATE | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| LEHIGH | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
RECORDS: Penn State 5-4, 2-0 CAA; Lehigh 6-5, 2-1 Patriot League
ATTENDANCE: 885