| 17 | 10 |
| Penn State Lacrosse Field | University Park | |
| STATISTICS | ||||
| F | |||
| VAN | 2 | 8 | 10 | |
| PSU | 7 | 10 | 17 |
| SHOTS | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FVAN921- -->30PSU1920- -->39
| SAVES | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FVAN54- -->9PSU69- -->15
| GBs | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FVAN89- -->17PSU109- -->19
| DRAWS | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FVAN610- -->16PSU49- -->13
March 15, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 9 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team used superb goalkeeping and steady scoring to down former ALC rival Vanderbilt, 17-10, on a cold and windy Sunday at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Junior Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) made a season-high 15 saves, while Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) and Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.) combined for 11 points.
Smith made 15 stops, nine of which came in the second half when Penn State (5-2) was able to pull away from Vanderbilt (3-4). Smith's play limited the Commodores to just 1-of-5 shooting from the free-position. The outing was one of Smith's career-high of 16 saves, set last season at Virginia.
On the other end of the field, McCormick and Mosketti sparked the Nittany Lion offense, tallying a combined five goals and six assists. McCormick had a six-point game with two tallies and four helpers, while Mosketti notched a hat trick and dished two dimes of her own.
McCormick moved into sole possession of second place at Penn State for career assists (112) and sits only three behind Julie Tice (1997-2000) who tallied 115 helpers. McCormick has 18 assists this season and has averaged 2.57 per game.
In all, Penn State had nine different goal scorers and seven of them tallied two or more goals. Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.), Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.), Jess Loizeaux (Mullica Hills, N.J.), Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) and Kristin Brent (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) each tallied two goals to aid McCormick and Mosketti.
Haley Ford (White Hall, Md.) and Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) contributed to the potent attack with two-point games, both with a goal and an assist.
Penn State and Vanderbilt traded goals in the opening six minutes before PSU took the lead for good on Mosketti back-to-back tallies with 19:10 remaining. Mosketti's tallies kick started a 6-1 run that produced a 7-2 halftime lead.
In the second half, Vanderbilt opened strong with a pair of goals to close within four goals at 7-4 with 25:38 remaining.
Three straight Nittany Lion goals from Mosketti, Cyr and McCormick put to bed any upset hopes of the Commodores as Penn State held a 10-4 lead.
While Vanderbilt would get the score to 11-6 with 14:46 left, Penn State scored six of the next eight goals from 12:30 to 3:55 left to open a 17-8 advantage before a pair of last-minute goals by the `Dores.
The Nittany Lions held advantages in nearly every major category: shots (39-30), saves (15-9) and ground balls (19-17). The Commodores won the draw control battle, 16-13, but committed 17 turnovers to Penn State's 11.
Penn State won its sixth straight against Vanderbilt to improve to 12-7 all-time in the series. PSU and Vanderbilt were conference foes in the ALC before joining separate conferences in 2015 (Big Ten and the Big East).
The Nittany Lions hit the road for a mid-week matinee at nationally-ranked Princeton. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. on Wednesday.