Feb. 9, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Led by four-goal performances from TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ont.) and Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.), No. 15 Penn State men's lacrosse defeated Michigan, 11-6, at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. In all, Sanders had a five-point afternoon in his collegiate debut, while goaltender Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) made 12 saves for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State (1-0) ran away from Michigan (0-1) after a tied first period, holding a 5-3 lead at halftime and upping it to 10-3 in the third. The Nittany Lions outscored the Wolverines 5-0 to open the second half to open the seven-goal advantage.
Sanders tallied the lone goal in the first period assisted by Erik Myers (Del Mar, Calif.) with 8:12 remaining in the frame. U-M tied the game 1:26 into the period before the Lions ran off three straight goals. Sanders doubled his total for a 2-1 lead at 10:48 before Sturgis made it 3-1 moments later.
Tom Lacrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.) made it 4-1 two minutes later as Jack Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) picked up his first helper of t he year. Michigan out-scored PSU 2-1 the rest of the second period, sandwiching a Sturgis tally.
Forster scored twice in the first four minutes of the third period for an 8-3 advantage, one of the goals assisted by Tommy O'Neill (Shamong, N.Y.). Sanders scored nine seconds after the second Forster goal on a Danny Henneghan (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) faceoff win and feed.
Sturgis scored his third and fourth goals of the game off passes from Nick Dolik (Beverly Hills, Mich.) and Sanders for the 10-3 advantage with 7:27 remaining in the third period.
Michigan scored the next three goals, including two on the man-up. Sanders capped the scoring with 9:07 left in the game on an unassisted goal for the 11-6 final.
Michigan goaltender Gerald Logan allowed 11 goals and saved 19 shots, while Kaut made 12 stops for the Nittany Lions. Penn State out-shot Michigan 57-30 for the game and had an advantage in ground balls (44-27) and faceoff wins (15-5).
Penn State committed 16 turnovers and caused four Wolverine turnovers. PSU was nearly perfect on the clear, going 20-fo-22, while Michigan was 18-for-22. U-M was 2-for-3 on the man-up and Penn State was 1-for-6.
The game was a homecoming for Dolik and Henneghan, both of whom attended Brother Rice High School, a 45-minute drive from Ann Arbor. Henneghan was 15-5 in faceoffs.
Forster, Dolik, Sturgis continued their point streaks of 13, 12 and seven games, respectively.
Penn State moved to a perfect 3-0 in Creator's Trophy games. The Nittany Lions can clinch the title on March 2 when it hosts Ohio State. Penn State won the title last season in its inaugural campaign. The Creator's Trophy is a competition between the Big Ten schools that sponsor men's lacrosse.
PSU flies to Jacksonville, Fla. for the Moe's Southwest Grill Classic against No. 8 Denver. The Pioneers defeated No. 4 Duke, 14-12, on Saturday afternoon.
--NITTANY LIONS--