Feb. 15, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The No. 17 Penn State women's lacrosse team opened the 2012 season on Wednesday afternoon with a resounding 19-3 victory over Bucknell in Lewisburg.
Thirteen different Nittany Lions tallied points, including six for the first time in a Penn State uniform, with 11 scoring at least one goal. Sophomore Katie Guy (Whitby, Ont.) and freshman Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) netted hat tricks while junior Molly Fernandez (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.) totaled two goals and one assist each. Freshman Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) had a team-high two assists.
Senior goalkeeper Dana Cahill (Towson, Md.), who was named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Award Watch List on Wednesday, played the entire first half and part of the second in net, making four saves. Redshirt junior Ayla Halus (Hershey, Pa.), a two-time All-American goalkeeper on the Penn State field hockey team, replaced Cahill and logged the remainder of the game's minutes.
Freshman Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) made a quick impression in her Penn State debut, giving the Nittany Lions an early lead by scoring the first two goals of the game. Goals by Guy and Lechner soon followed and PSU found itself up 4-0 less than seven minutes into the game.
After Bucknell scored its lone goal of the first half at the 23:13 mark, Penn State reeled off eight unanswered goals to head into halftime with a commanding 12-1 advantage. Seven different Nittany Lions accounted for the eight goals during the run, headlined by two from senior co-captain Theresa Zichelli (Severna Park, Md.). Freshman Haley Ford (White Hall, Md.) also netted the first of her career.
Penn State began the second half by posting six consecutive scores, bookended by goals from Fernandez. Also in that span, both Guy and Lechner each recorded her third goal of the game and sophomore Evan Foulsham (Madison, N.J.) scored her first.
Bucknell added two goals in the game's final nine minutes but sophomore Shannon Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.), a transfer from Towson, stretched the lead back to 16 by putting in Penn State's 19th and final goal with 4:49 remaining.
Penn State outshot Bucknell, 31-12, and had an 18-6 advantage in ground balls for the game. Coffey recorded six of the Nittany Lions' nine draw controls.
Penn State will be back in action this weekend, welcoming No. 2 Maryland (1-0) to Happy Valley for its 2012 home opener on Sunday, Feb. 19 (1 p.m.). The clash of ranked opponents will be the program's inaugural game at the new home of the Nittany Lions, Penn State Lacrosse Field. A year ago, Penn State opened the season with a 13-2 loss to the eventual NCAA runner-up Terrapins in College Park.