| 15 | 8 |
| High Point Solutions Stadium | Piscataway | |
| STATISTICS | ||||
| F | |||
| PSU | 10 | 5 | 15 | |
| RU | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| SHOTS | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FPSU2211- -->33RU1211- -->23
| SAVES | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FPSU53- -->8RU73- -->10
| GBs | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FPSU87- -->15RU85- -->13
| DRAWS | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FPSU127- -->19RU33- -->6
March 28, 2015
PISCATAWAY, N.J -- The 15th-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team ran away from Rutgers in the teams' Big Ten opener in a 15-8 victory on Saturday at High Point Solutions Stadium. Three Nittany Lions tallied hat tricks, led by Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and her five points.
The Nittany Lions (8-3, 1-0 Big Ten) raced out to a10-4 halftime advantage, stretched the lead to 10 and coasted to a comfortable victory over Rutgers (1-10, 0-1 Big Ten). Penn State has won all 16 meetings with the Scarlet Knights.
Coffey tallied three goals and two assists, while teammates Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) and Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) each registered hat tricks. McCormick dished an assist to stretch her school-leading mark to 118 all-time.
Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) tossed in three points on two goals and an assist and four other Lions tallied goals on the day. Goalkeeper Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) made eight saves for the win.
After conceding the opening goal, Penn State ran off the next five beginning with Lazo's free-position tally and Madison Cyr's (Westminster, Md.) goal for a 2-1 lead at 24:12. Both players registered their 20th goals of the season.
The next two goals came from the free-position: O'Donnell at 22:12 and Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) at 21:06. Then Coffey made it 5-1 with 18:51 remaining in the first half.
A Rutgers goal by Halley Barnes briefly halted the onslaught before Kristin Brent (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and two from McCormick made it 8-2 with 12:22 remaining.
The Scarlet Knights tallied back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to four, 8-4, but McCormick and O'Donnell scored 23 seconds apart for a 10-4 advantage going into halftime.
Penn State scored the first three goals of the second half: Coffey had back-to-back scores and O'Donnell buried her third for a 13-4 lead with 22:54 remaining. O'Donnell notched hat tricks in successive games for the first time in her collegiate career.
RU's Kim Kolodny scored with 20:53 to go, shaving the deficit to eight, but Maggie Gallagher (Bel Air, Md.) and Lazo scored markers for a 15-5 advantage with 16:37 to go. The Scarlet Knights would hold PSU scoreless the rest of the way, tallying three goals down the stretch.
The Nittany Lions dominated the shot count (33-23) and draw control battle (19-6), while clearing all 12 times successfully. PSU forced Rutgers to turn it over five times on 12 clears in the first half.
PSU's Ally Heavens (Garnet Valley, Pa.) had a game-high five draw controls and an assist, while Jess Loizeaux (Mullica Hills, N.J.) had an assist and three caused turnovers.
Penn State hosts its Big Ten home opener on Saturday, April 4 against Ohio State. That game, slated for 6 p.m., will air live on Big Ten Network and BTN2Go.