March 24, 2012
PHILADELPHIA - Senior attackman Jack Forster (Jenkintown) recorded a hat trick as the No. 17 Penn State men's lacrosse team snapped its three-game losing streak with a 7-3 victory against Saint Joseph's at Finnesey Field on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions, who have allowed three goals or less in three of their four victories, improved to 4-4 overall (1-1 CAA), while the Hawks fell to 3-5 (0-2 CAA).
Forster registered three goals in a game for the first time since netting four markers against Saint Joseph's in a 14-6 Nittany Lion victory on March 26, 2011.
Junior midfielder Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) scored twice for Penn State, while senior attackman Matthew Mackrides (Newtown Square) and junior midfielder Travis Crane (Parkville, Md.) tallied one goal each. Dolik also notched a game-high three caused turnovers.
Junior faceoff specialist Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.), who won 8-of-14 draws, collected a game-high four ground balls, and sophomore goalkeeper Austin Kaut (Morton) made 10 saves. Saint Joseph's netminder Griffin Ferrigan recorded 11 stops.
The Nittany Lions out shot Saint Joseph's by a 32-28 margin, while controlling 18 ground balls to the Hawks' 28. Penn State was 0-for-4 on extra-man opportunities, while Saint Joseph's finished 0-for-2 with the extra man.
Penn State scored the lone goal in the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead. Following a Saint Joseph's turnover, the Nittany Lions brought the ball down the field before Forster rocketed his first goal of the game at 4:45.
In the second stanza, Penn State outscored the Hawks by a 3-1 margin en route to the three-goal halftime lead. Crane tallied his second marker in a Nittany Lion uniform with 12:44 remaining before Saint Joseph's Johnny Simanski cut the Hawks' deficit to 2-1 with 9:41 left.
With 6:40 left in the half, Dolik notched his eighth marker of the season to regain Penn State's two-goal advantage before Forster gave the Nittany Lions a 4-1 lead 1:08 later.
Penn State tacked on two more goals in the third quarter before the Hawks responded with one of their own. Dolik recorded his second tally of the game when he scored just 27 seconds into the second half. With 11:29 left in the third, Mackrides fired his 13th marker of the season to give Penn State a 6-1 lead. Kyle Williams scored for the Hawks with 3:38 left in the frame to make it a 6-2 game.
In the fourth frame, Saint Joseph's Ryan McGee brought the Hawks to within three goals with 7:43 remaining before Forster completed the hat trick 1:30 later to make it 7-3. Freshman attackman Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.) recorded an assist on the play.
Penn State will return to action on Tuesday (March 27) when they host No. 20 Bucknell in a non-conference matchup. Opening faceoff is set at 7 p.m.