6-2-0 | 3-5-0 |
| 10 | 8 |
| Saturday, March 21 (2:45 p.m.) | |
James M. Shuart Stadium | Hempstead, N.Y.
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.; March 21, 2015 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team led No. 5/6 Denver for nearly half of the contest, but couldn't overcome a high-powered Pioneer offense and fell to Denver 10-8 on Saturday at Hofstra University.
Recording three points each was Dan Craig (Shelburne, Ontario), who scored a goal and added two assists, and Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.), posting two goals and an assist. TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) and Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.) also scored two goals apiece, and Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.) assisted on Penn State's final tally of the game.
Connor Darcey's (Wellesley, Mass.) 14 saves make him the first goalie since 2011 to make 10-or-more saves in seven of the season's first eight games. Ryan LaPlante turned away 10 shots for Denver. Penn State (3-5) was out-shot by the Pioneers, 38-31, with the Nittany Lions led by Sutton's seven. Denver won the ground ball battle, 25-23. The Pioneers (6-2) dominated at the face-off 'X', going 14-8. Both teams were 1-3 with the extra man.
The Nittany Lions started the game flying, with Craig's sixth of the season coming just 47 seconds into the affair.
Sanders doubled Penn State's just over three minutes later off of a Sutton assist. But Connor Cannizzaro put in a pair in exactly two minutes midway through the quarter to tie the contest.
Penn State was able to regain its lead a minute after the second Cannizzaro goal. With 6:27 remaining of the frame, Denver was saddled with a 30-second offside penalty. Sutton took advantage of the opportunity, cashing in on a pass from Craig to put the Blue and White ahead. The Pioneers would tie it up a minute later for the 3-3 score at the end of the opening stanza.
The Nittany Lions began the second quarter the same way they started the first by scoring a pair of goals. Within 46 seconds of the stanza's opening face-off, tallies by Sutton and Aponte put Penn State up 5-3.
The Nittany Lions and Pioneers would trade goals until 1:43 remained in the third quarter. But as the game rolled on, Denver increased its aggression and was able to string together five unanswered goals to capture a 10-7 lead with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter. Penn State trailed Denver in the game for just 11:57.
Penn State attempted to mount a comeback and with 2:55 left on the game clock, Manley served the ball to Aponte, whose sidearm shot cut off the run and made the score 10-8. Following the marker, a pair of Nittany Lions shots ricocheted off the post and Penn State was unable to overcome the two-goal deficit.
The Nittany Lions play their first Big Ten game in program history on Sun., March 29 with a 3 p.m. game against Ohio State. The game will be the first of five televised games for Penn State, broadcasted on ESPNU.