Feb. 15, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team scored four consecutive goals in the second half, but ultimately fell short at Loyola, 8-6, on Saturday.
The beginning of the contest was a defensive showcase, with both teams' defenses keeping the other teams' offenses at bay. Loyola ended the first quarter with three unanswered goals, but the Nittany Lions didn't give up the fight.
Despite being limited by Loyola's steadfast defense, the Nittany Lions' offense created decisive opportunities for scoring in the second half. Four goals in a row brought the Nittany Lions within one goal of tying the Greyhounds, 7-6. These goals gave the Nittany Lions confidence and hope, but ultimately Loyola scored one final goal that sealed the fate for Penn State.
"I think a lot of it was just us not opening things up or playing with more fluidity, more confidence," said head coach Jeff Tambroni. "We were struggling in the basics."
With more than 50 shots taken, the Greyhounds' relentless offense gave the Nittany Lions' defense fits, but goaltender Connor Darcey stood strong. Coach Tambroni, despite disappointment in the final score, was pleased with Darcey's performance overall.
"I credit Connor Darcey and our defense, they played very well today," said Tambroni. "[Loyola's] got some great shooters, especially around the first midfield, they can really bring the heat. But conversely I thought we needed to be a little bit more urgent."
Darcey, in his second game starting in Penn State's net, commanded the defense from the starting faceoff. As goalie, Darcey's position is one of leadership on the field and is extremely important in getting the defense to work together. Darcey, as well as the rest of the defense, felt the pressure during the game to keep Loyola's scoring chances low.
"I thought we played pretty well defensively," said Darcey. "We had a ton of pressure on us which was expected, we knew that going in, but I think we handled it pretty well. As we went on throughout the game we got more comfortable and we sort of felt them [Loyola] out."
Penn State had limited scoring opportunities, which made every shot on net that much more important. Despite Loyola's veteran defense, Penn State was able to come back the second half with a new determination that showed in their performance as well as on the scoreboard.
"We changed the point of attack," said Tambroni. "I think that was the biggest thing. We forced them [Loyola] to have to defend below the goal line and then above the goal line. Not until that point did we force them to have to defend anything in this direction."
Coach Tambroni highlighted the areas the team will be working on going forward, building off the momentum of their second half performance.
"The poise we had coming down the stretch was a positive and maybe we can draw off that," said Tambroni. "We need to do a better job of playing with more urgency from the get-go so we can chip away a few small pieces early so we don't have to do so much at the end of the game."
The second half momentum will be the jumping off point for Penn State's practices this week. Building momentum and keeping it consistent throughout games has been a continuous focus of the Nittany Lions. With a strong performance by the defense, the Nittany Lions look to build on this further and use this game as a learning opportunity in other areas.
"We need to go back to work Monday and start to get our flow back offensively," said Tambroni.
Although the result wasn't what the Nittany Lions were working towards, their strong performance against Loyola has given the team confidence moving forward. The team will take this week to learn and improve for their match up against Villanova on Saturday.