April 11, 2015
5-6, 2-1 Big Ten | 3-8, 0-3 Big Ten |
| 11 | 10 |
| Saturday, April 11 (6 p.m.) | |
Homewood Field | Baltimore, Md.
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
BALTIMORE, Md.; April 11, 2015 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team got a lights-out game by Connor Darcey (Wellesley, Mass.) and a four-goal performance by Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.), but suffered an 11-10 double overtime heartbreaking loss at the hands of Johns Hopkins on Saturday.
Manley's four-goal game, all scored in a 12-minute span, was his first career showing with three-or-more goals. Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.) had a hat trick of his own, while Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.) put together a four-point night (one goal, three assists), matching his career high, and TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) recorded a goal and an assist. Dan Craig (Sherburne, Ontario) netted a man-up goal, and Matt Sexton (Niskayuna, N.Y.) posted an assist.
Darcey stopped 13 shots, his eighth game of the season with double-digit saves, to Will Ryan's 10. Drake Kreinz (Delafield, Wis.) narrowly edged the Blue Jays at the face-off `X', going 13-for-25, but Johns Hopkins won the ground ball battle, 29-28. Penn State (3-8, 0-3 Big Ten) was 1-for-3 on extra man opportunities and the Blue Jays were 1-for-5.
After falling behind 2-0 in the first quarter, the Nittany Lions cut the Blue Jays' lead in half with 4:12 left in the frame. Peter Triolo (Smithtown, N.Y.) won a ground ball battle in front of the Blue Jays' (5-6, 2-1 Big Ten) net, raced in and flipped it to Sutton. The sophomore muscled to the front of the net and threw it in to put Penn State on the board.
Johns Hopkins responded with three goals to take a 6-1 lead midway through the second quarter, which the Nittany Lions were able to cut three-and-a-half minutes in. A Blue Jay was issued a slashing penalty and with the extra man, Craig drew a slide, stepped in and ripped a sidearm shot to make the score 6-2.
As the half neared its close, the Nittany Lions took charge offensively with a five-goal run, led by the senior midfielder. Trailing 6-2 with four seconds left in the second quarter, Manley received a feed from Aponte and sent his overhand shot low into the cage to for the 6-3 at halftime.
Penn State's offense picked up where it left off after the intermission. Fifty-one seconds into the second half, Aponte dished the ball from behind the cage to Sutton, who stepped around his defender and put it past Ryan for the 6-4 score.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, Manley kept up the Nittany Lion run to put the game within one. He corralled the ball after a Penn State shot on Ryan, dodged a trio of defenders and cashed in the 6-5 goal.
Manley continued to smolder and after four minutes ticked off, tied the game for Penn State. At 7:23, he drew a slide and whipped a left handed shot around his defender to make the score 6-6.
The scoreboard flipped to the Nittany Lions' favor 4:20 later, thanks to the Blue and White's most prolific scorer during the day. Sanders sent a pass to Manley, who got the 7-6 tally at 3:03 for the first four-goal game of his career.
But with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter, the Blue Jays stopped the Nittany Lions' roll to tie the game at 7-7.
The fourth quarter sparked a nail-biter of an ending, which saw each team trade three goals.
Just under five minutes into the fourth, the Nittany Lions' season-leading point-getter snatched back the lead. Sanders stepped in and scored the 8-7 goal, his 21st of the year.
Thirty-eight seconds later, Ryan Brown's 40th of the season tied the game at 8-8.
After recording three assists, Aponte got one of his own to regain the Blue and White advantage, 9-8, with 8:16 to go in regulation. He went around the goal, dropped his inside shoulder and finished the shot with his 11th of the season.
Under a minute later, Ryan Brown's fifth of the game made the score 9-9 and, at 1:27, Johns Hopkins scored the go-ahead 10-9 goal.
Penn State refused to give in, however, and after putting a shot on goal, Sutton made good and completed the hat trick to tie the game at 10-10 with 33 seconds left in regulation.
With just seven ticks of the clock remaining in the second overtime period, though, the Nittany Lions suffered the heartbreaker when Joel Tinney put away the game-winner.
Penn State hosts Senior Day on Sun., April 19, honoring Manley, Jack Donnelly (Toronto, Ontario), JP Burnside (Garden City, N.Y.), Taylor Stothoff (Sparks, Md.), Michael Richards (Skaneateles, N.Y.), Kyle Baier (Auburn, N.Y.), Kyle Zittel (Eden, N.Y.) and Ryan Mullen (Hatboro, Pa.) before the final home game of the season against Rutgers. The 6 p.m. game will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network at Penn State Lacrosse Field.