March 6, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore attack Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) scored a career-high six goals as she led the No. 7/9 Penn State women's lacrosse team to a 13-12 victory against James Madison at Holuba Hall Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions improved to 4-1 with their third straight win, while the Dukes fell to 3-1.
Penn State dominated the opening period, scoring five goals in the first 4:13 of the game en route to a 10-4 halftime lead. McCormick, who added a pair of assists to match her career-best eight points, extended the Penn State advantage to 11-4 early in the second stanza, but James Madison finished the game on an 8-2 run.
After McCormick gave the Nittany Lions a 13-9 lead, the Dukes tallied three times in a 2:27 span to make it a one-goal game. Steph Finley scored her first of the game with 6:55 remaining before Casey Ancarrow, who fired three second-half markers, brought the Dukes to within a pair of tallies. Jaci Gordon made it 13-12 with 4:28 left in the game, but the Nittany Lions held for the one-goal victory.
Junior attack Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.), who garnered two assists, recorded her third straight three-goal game, while senior Molly Fernandez (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomores Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and Haley Ford (White Hall, Md.) notched a goal and an assist each. Ford collected a game-high four caused turnovers, while sophomore midfielder Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) registered a game-high seven draw controls.
Penn State, which defeated James Madison for the first time since 2002, outshot the Dukes by a 25-22 margin and finished 10-for-10 on clears. Freshman goalkeeper Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) made five saves, while James Madison netminder Schylar Healy turned aside seven shots.
The Nittany Lions opened the game on a 5-0 run, beginning with Fernandez's marker just 59 seconds after the opening draw. Lechner doubled the advantage 55 seconds later before McCormick tallied her first of the contest with 27:18 left in the half. Ford and McCormick extended the Penn State lead before Amy Roguski put James Madison on the board at 10:05.
McCormick and Coffey sandwiched a pair of James Madison goals to give Penn State a 7-3 advantage before the Nittany Lions finished the stanza on a 3-1 run. McCormick netted her fourth marker with 6:33 left before Cyr scored twice, the latter coming with 2:20 remaining, to give the Nittany Lions a 10-3 lead. Roguski found the back of the net with 23 seconds left in the half to make it a 10-4 game.
After McCormick's fifth goal opened the second stanza, James Madison went on a 5-1 run within the half's first 14:30 to make it a 12-9 game. Both Julianne Giles and Roguski, who along with Ancarrow led the Dukes with three goals each, scored before Cyr gave the Nittany Lions a six-goal lead with 20:39 left to play. Gordon tallied with 19:12 left in the contest and Ancarrow added a pair of tallies to make it 12-9 with 15:30 remaining.
With 10:08 left in the game, McCormick scored her sixth marker to make it 13-9 but the Dukes ended the game on a 3-0 run. After Gordon's tally brought James Madison to within a strike, the Nittany Lions were able to run out the clock.
Penn State, which already has faced two top-10 teams in 2013, will return to action Saturday, March 9 when it visits top-ranked Maryland. Game time is set at noon.