Feb. 21, 2015
1-1-0 | 1-2-0 |
| 11 | 7 |
| Saturday, February 21 (Noon) | |
Villanova Stadium | Villanova, Pa.
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
VILLANOVA, Pa.; Feb. 21, 2015 - Nick Aponte's (West Islip, N.Y.) first career multi-goal game wasn't enough for the Penn State men's lacrosse team, who fell to Villanova 11-7 on Saturday in a snow-covered Villanova Stadium.
Aponte earned the first multi-goal game of his career in convincing fashion, netting four. TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) added a pair for the Nittany Lions and Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.) scored his fourth of the year. Dan Craig (Sherburne, Ontario), Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and Ryan Keenan (Smithtown, N.Y.) each dished out an assist.
Penn State (1-2) won the ground ball battle, collecting 26 to Villanova's 22. The Nittany Lions also dominated at the `X', with Drake Kreinz (Delafield, Wisc.) winning 14 of 21 attempts. Penn State went 1-for-4 on the man-up, while the Wildcats were 2-for-4.
Villanova out-shot the Nittany Lions, 44-29. Sanders led Penn State with eight shots, and Aponte took seven shots, a career best. Connor Darcey (Wellesley, Mass.) recorded 13 saves, while Greg Stamatov and Dan Willis combined for nine saves.
The Wildcats (1-1) dominated in the first 20 minutes of the game, taking a 6-1 advantage midway through the second quarter. The Nittany Lions' lone goal of the first came 3:25 into the game, when Sanders let loose a quick shot off of a Keenan pass from behind the net for the 2-1 score.
With 7:33 left in the second quarter, the momentum swung in Penn State's direction, and the Blue and White caged the Wildcats for almost 13 minutes. Aponte was able to break away from the Villanova defense and ripped in his first of the contest. Sutton matched the tally less than two minutes later, when he picked up the ball following a Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.) blocked shot and scored from a distance, cutting the lead to 6-3.
Villanova was able to score only once again in the third quarter, 1:23 into the frame. The Nittany Lions responded with Aponte's second of the game after sending in a sidearm shot from the front of the net to keep the game within three.
The Wildcats regained control and rallied for a four-goal fourth quarter, despite a pair of goals from Aponte and a Sanders' marker on the man-up for the final 11-7 score.
Penn State returns to Happy Valley on Fri., Feb. 28 to host Penn at noon.