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Gainesville, Fla. • Donald R. Dizney Stadium • Attendance: 756 | 9 |
March 30, 2014
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - After trailing by a seven-goal margin at the end of the first half, the No. 10/11 Penn State women's lacrosse team's second-half rally fell short in a 13-9 setback against No. 4/5 Florida at Donald R. Dizney Stadium Sunday afternoon. The loss snapped the Nittany Lions' (7-4, 2-1 ALC) five-game winning streak, while the Gators improved to 12-2 overall (3-0 ALC).
Sophomore midfielder Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md./3g), who netted at least a hat trick for the third straight game and fifth time in 2014, and junior midfielder Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J./2g, 1a) led Penn State with three points each. Junior attacker Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) extended her point-scoring streak to 38 games (79-66--145) with a goal and an assist.
Sophomore midfielder Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.), who tied Cyr with a game-high two caused turnovers, added a goal and collected a team-high two draw controls. Senior defender Lauren Purvis (Maple Glen, Pa.) paced the team with three ground balls, while sophomore goalkeeper Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) turned aside seven shots.
Penn State, which tried to erase a 10-3 halftime deficit with a six-goal second half, was out shot by the Gators by a 35-16 margin. The Nittany Lions held an 11-5 advantage in caused turnovers and went 17-for-19 on clears.
In the first half, McCormick, who took a feed from Coffey, opened the scoring with her 14th marker of the 2014 campaign 2:42 into the contest. The Gators then responded with six straight goals in a less than a nine-minute span for the four-goal lead.
Penn State fired back with a pair of strikes to close the gap to 6-3. Freshman midfielder Abby Smucker (Bel Air, Md.), who has tallied at least one point in all 11 games this season, converted a pass from junior attacker Jess Loizeaux (Mullica Hill, N.J.) with 10:42 left before Coffey tallied a man-up goal with 8:05 remaining. McCormick recorded an assist on the Toms River, N.J., native's first of the game.
Florida then responded with four unanswered goals, including the final tally with one second remaining in the frame, en route to the 10-3 lead.
The Nittany Lions stormed out of the gate in the second stanza with three markers in a 2:50 span. A Westminster, Md., native, Cyr made it a 10-4 game just 1:54 into the period before Loizeaux and Cyr tallied 14 seconds apart to bring Penn State within four. The Gators responded with two quick strikes before the Nittany Lions ended the game on a 3-1 run.
Cyr and Smucker connected for the former's 25th goal of the season with 17:02 left before Mosketti added a free-position marker with 8:10 remaining. After Florida extended its lead to 13-8 with 5:23 left on the clock, Coffey rounded out the scoring to account for the 13-9 final.
The Nittany Lions will return home Friday, April 4 when they welcome conference foe No. 7/8 Northwestern to the Penn State Lacrosse Field. Opening draw is set for 7 p.m.