| 11 | 5 |
| Penn State Lacrosse Field | University Park | |
| STATISTICS | ||||
| F | |||
| MICH | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| PSU | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| SHOTS | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FMICH96- -->15PSU1016- -->26
| SAVES | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FMICH57- -->12PSU33- -->6
| GBs | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FMICH79- -->16PSU712- -->19
| DRAWS | 1 | 2 |
OT -->FMICH32- -->5PSU67- -->13
April 9, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The 12th-ranked Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team battled a slow start and pouring rain to beat Michigan, 11-5, Thursday night at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Senior Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) tallied a season-high seven points as the Lions closed the game on a 9-2 run.
"It was a pretty tough game," head coach Missy Doherty said. "The score was great, but I don't think our execution was that great tonight. I think offensively we just could have handled the pressure better, could have handled the ball better. But, it's a good warmup for the next couple games because they play similar defenses. We have to play better."
McCormick scored twice and dished five assists for the Nittany Lions (10-3, 3-0 Big Ten) who reached double-digit wins for the fifth straight season under Doherty. McCormick played a hand in all five first-half goals, scoring once and assisting four others, before adding another marker and helper in the second half. McCormick, already the Penn State leader in all-time assists, upped her career total to 123.
McCormick's standout play was supported by eight Nittany Lions who tallied goals and Emi Smith's (Denver, Colo.) six saves in net. Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) notched a two-goal game as PSU's only other multi-goal scorer.
A sluggish opening half had the Nittany Lions down 3-2 with 14:14 to go, but McCormick scored 14 seconds later and O'Donnell gave the Lions the lead 58 seconds after that. Those two goals began a 6-0 stretch as Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) tallied the final goal of the half before Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.), Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and McCormick made the game 8-3 with 23:53 remaining.
Lazo, Coffey and McCormick opened the second half during a massive downpour that would continue for the final 30 minutes of play.
The game opened in PSU's favor with Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.) putting away McCormick's 25th assist of the season with 22:41 remaining in the first half. The Wolverines would go on a 3-1 spurt, sandwiching Maggie Gallagher's (Bel Air, Md.) fifth of the season, which was also helped by McCormick. That set up the decisive 9-2 run.
Penn State would tally three of the final five goals on shots by Kristin Brent (Rockville, N.Y.), O'Donnell and Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.).
The Wolverines were able to hang close to the Nittany Lions despite getting out-shot 26-15 thanks to the play of netminder Allison Silber (12 saves). Twenty-three of Penn State's 26 shots were on target, and another was off the crossbar.
Penn State won the battles for ground balls (19-16), draw controls (13-5), while forcing 20 Michigan turnovers. PSU committed 17 turnovers. Ally Heavens (Garnet Valley, Pa.) and Coffey had three caused turnovers each, while Lechner picked up a game-high five draw controls. Natalie Schmitt (Malvern, Pa.) scooped a game-high four grounders.
The Nittany Lions sit atop the Big Ten standings for the time being with a game in hand. PSU have yet to face preseason favorites Maryland and Northwestern. Penn State's next game is Tuesday at Cornell, a game slated for 5 p.m.