May 2, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's lacrosse team will serve as the No. 3 seed for the 2011 ALC Championship, setting up a first round match-up with No. 6 seed Johns Hopkins (9-7) scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. The fifth annual conference tournament will be hosted by Vanderbilt University.
Should the No. 17 Nittany Lions get past Johns Hopkins, they will advance to face No. 2 seed Northwestern (15-2) on Friday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the semifinals. In the other quarterfinal contest on Thursday, fourth-seeded Ohio State (9-6) will meet No. 5 seed Vanderbilt (8-7) at 4 p.m. ET. The winner will square off with the championship's No. 1 seed, Florida (14-1), at 4 p.m. ET on Friday. The ALC Championship title game is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 7. All tournament games will be played at the home of the Commodores, Vanderbilt Lacrosse Stadium.
Penn State (9-7) had a three-game winning streak snapped in last weekend's regular season finale, falling to No. 15 Princeton, 19-10, in New Jersey. Four different Nittany Lions, Jackie Eastman (Springfield, Pa.), Molly Fernandez (Baltimore), Jen Steadman (Sykesville, Md.), and Theresa Zichelli (Severna Park, Md.), scored two goals each to lead the PSU offense. As she was all season, Maggie Dunbar (Cockeysville, Md.) was a force in the midfield, contributing one assist, five draw controls, three ground balls, and three caused turnovers.
Penn State owns a 7-3 record in its series with Johns Hopkins, but the Nittany Lions and Blue Jays have never faced off in ALC Championship play. Two weeks ago, in the teams' regular season meeting, Penn State overcame a three-goal halftime deficit to top JHU, 10-7, in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins finished the regular season by dropping its second straight ALC game, falling to Ohio State, 19-12, in Columbus.
Penn State is undefeated in opening round games of the conference tournament, posting a 4-0 record. Overall, the Nittany Lions are 4-4 in ALC Championship play, with all four of their victories coming against Ohio State and all four of their losses dealt by Northwestern.
Fans can follow all of the action as Penn State pursues its first conference title with live stats and instant scoring updates from GameTracker. In addition, all Nittany Lion contests at the ALC Championship will also be video streamed live online for a fee. Find links as they become available on the front page (click on Schedule/Results) of the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com and on the women's lacrosse schedule page.