March 29, 2015
8-3, 1-0 Big Ten | 3-6, 0-1 Big Ten |
| 10 | 8 |
| Sunday, March 29 (3 p.m.) | |
Penn State Lacrosse Field | University Park, Pa.
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 29, 2015 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team scored half of its goals in the fourth quarter of the program's first Big Ten Lacrosse game but was unable to get past No. 16/15 Ohio State and fell to the Buckeyes 10-8 on Sunday.
Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.) scored goals in the second and third quarters. Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.) Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.), Dan Craig (Sherburne, Ontario), Michael Richards (Skaneateles, N.Y.), Brian Prestreau (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.) rounded out the scoring ledger for Penn State. TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) recorded a pair of fourth quarter assists. James Burke (Duxbury, Mass.) and Florence also added helpers.
Ohio State out-shot Penn State, 32-27, with Sutton's eight leading the Nittany Lions. Connor Darcey (Wellesley, Mass.) suffered the loss for Penn State, stopping eight shots to Tom Carey's six. The Buckeyes topped the Blue and White in the ground ball battle, 23-20. At the face-off 'X', the Nittany Lions narrowly edged Ohio State, 12-10, led by Drake Kreinz's (Delafield, Wis.) 11-8 outing. The redshirt-sophomore won 8-of-11 restarts in the final 30 minutes of play. Also appearing at the 'X', Billy Lombardi (Rochester, N.Y.) was 1-2. Both teams were unable to convert with the extra man. Ohio State had four opportunities and Penn State had two opportunities.
The Nittany Lions (3-6, 0-1 Big Ten) got off to a slow start, falling behind 5-1 in the first quarter when Ohio State (8-3, 1-0 Big Ten) netted five unanswered tallies. Richards' sidearm shot was Penn State's lone marker 1:41 into the contest.
But Penn State was able to increase its time of possession after the opening 15 minutes and out-scored the Buckeyes 7-5 in the final three quarters.
Sutton kicked off that Nittany Lion offensive effort just over a minute into the second frame when the sophomore ripped the ball near pipe after a quick pass from Florence. Ohio State responded with a pair of goals for a 7-2 lead at halftime.
Nearly five minutes after the intermission, Manley broke up the Buckeye scoring run when he drove through a pair of defenders and sent a left-handed shot into the back of the cage. But the Buckeyes matched their response to Penn State's second quarter goal, scoring a pair to take a six-goal lead with 4:55 remaining on the clock.
Fifty-eight seconds later, Sutton's second of the game cut Ohio State's margin when he powered around a Buckeye and got through an overhand shot for the 9-4 score.
Florence was almost able to bring it within four less than a minute later. The redshirt-sophomore dodged a defender twice behind the cage before out-racing his man and threw it high into the cage. But it was called a no goal with Florence deemed in the crease.
After a Buckeye goal early in the fourth quarter, Penn State became intent on making the game a nail-biter. Led by Kreinz's perfect showing at the face-off 'X' during the stanza, the Blue and White notched four unanswered goals in just over four minutes.
With 6:44 remaining in regulation, Aponte smoked one past Carey into the top right corner. Prestreau found the back of the cage 47 seconds later when, from a distance, his sidearm shot snuck in at the right pipe. Both shots counted feeds from Sanders.
1:10 after the Prestreau goal, Craig's highlight reel goal put the game within three. Sanders put a shot on net and after a Buckeye attempted to pick up the rebound, Craig scooped up the ball behind his back and whipped a horizontal shot behind him into the net.
Another strong individual effort resulted in Penn State's eighth goal of the game. At 2:37, Florence took the ball from behind the cage, split a double team and strong-armed it in for the 10-8 score.
Kreinz won the draw on the ensuing restart and aside from a shot-on-goal from Sanders, the Nittany Lions couldn't generate quality chances for the final 10-8 score.
The contest, the first broadcasted on ESPNU at Penn State Lacrosse Field, was also the first in the quest for the Creator's Trophy, sought by Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State. The trophy was created to honor the rivalries among the three Big Ten lacrosse schools at the time Michigan added the sport in 2012. The Nittany Lions have captured two-of-three titles.
Up next, Penn State travels to Maryland for its first Big Ten road contest on Sat., April 4 at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network.