May 2, 2015
| #7 PENN STATE vs. #20 OHIO STATE | |
| 13-4 (No. 2 Seed) | 13-6 (No. 4 Seed) |
| Sunday, May 3 at Noon | |
| HIGH POINT SOLUTIONS STADIUM | PISCATAWAY | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL | |
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TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | Ohio State | PROMOTIONS Pink Night | Pink Giveaways |
| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | 2015 Stats | OSU |
| 13-4 | Overall Record | 13-6 |
| 4-1 | Conference Record | 2-3 |
| 232 | Goals Scored | 255 |
| 154 | Goals Allowed | 187 |
| 13.65 | Goals Scored/gm. | 13.42 |
| 9.06 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 9.84 |
| 490 | Shots | 540 |
| 28.8 | Shots/gm. | 28.4 |
| 96 | Assists | 115 |
| 39-86 | Free-Position Shots | 31-72 |
| 242 | Ground Balls | 302 |
| 214 | Draw Controls | 249 |
| 191 | Turnovers | 238 |
| 147 | Caused Turnovers | 147 |
| 128 | Saves | 152 |
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The No. 7 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team will try to claim a program first on Sunday afternoon when it takes on No. 20 Ohio State at Rutgers' High Point Solutions Stadium: win a conference tournament title. Opening draw is set for Noon on ESPN3 and WatchESPN with a tape delay broadcast on ESPNU (5 p.m.).
The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will have its 26-team field revealed on the NCAA Selection Show at 9 p.m. Sunday on NCAA.com.
NITTANY LIONS KNOCK OFF NORTHWESTERN
The second-seeded Nittany Lions used a trio of hat tricks to beat third-seeded Northwestern, 13-10, on Friday night at High Point Solutions Stadium in the Big Ten Semifinals.
Penn State (13-4), nationally ranked at No. 7, faced the tall task of downing a ninth-ranked Northwestern (12-6) side who had reached conference tournaments in the previous eight seasons as part of the ALC. The Nittany Lions trailed for only 1:45 of the game, despite leading point-scorer Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) being held without a shot or an assist by a face-guarding Wildcat defense.
Stepping up in her place was Penn State's potent, balanced scoring attack with three registering hat tricks: Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.), Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.). Cyr and Coffey each tallied two assists to complete their four-point evenings, while freshman Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) had three points on two goals and an assist.
The New Jersey native was perfect from the free-position, going 3-for-3 on a night where Penn State lit the lamp 13 times on 23 shots (56.5 percent).
On the other side of the field, PSU's defense only allowed 22 shots, anchored by Emi Smith's (Denver, Colo.) seven saves. The defense saw a key performance by Cat Layne (Downingtown, Pa.) who came in reserve in the first half after two first-half yellow cards were assessed to Taylor Bleistein (Bayville, N.Y.).
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Penn State is taking part in its ninth conference tournament, the first as part of the Big Ten. PSU registered its first win over Northwestern in tournament play, advancing to a conference tourney final for the second time (2009, at Penn State).
The Nittany Lions are 4-0 all-time against the Buckeyes in conference tournaments. The two teams last met May 6, 2010, a 14-12 win at OSU.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BUCKEYES
Behind precise shooting, timely saves and pressure defense, the No. 12 Nittany Lions held off No. 18 Ohio State, 14-13, Saturday evening (April 4) at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) had five first-half points and Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) tossed in four of her own to pace the Nittany Lion offense.
Penn State connected on 11 of its first 15 shots of the game to build a four-goal lead in the second half, and held off a furious Ohio State (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) charge for the victory. PSU shot 63.6 percent for the game.
Lazo notched three goals, two assists in the opening 30 minutes, while Coffey scored two of her three goals in the second half, while Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) and Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) each scored two goals. Goalie Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) made nine saves, six of which came in the first half to help steer PSU into the halftime lead, 9-7.
HOW THEY BUCKEYES GOT HERE
Ohio State turned in the upset of the year by upending the No. 1 Maryland Terrapins, 11-10, on Friday night. OSU shot 70 percent from the field in the second half to overcome a four-goal deficit, open a three-goal lead and hang on for a one-goal win.
Cian Dabrowsky canned four goals, while Jennifer Porretto and Katie Chase each scored hat tricks. Goalie Tori DeScenza made 11 key saves in the historic win.
ABOUT THE BUCKEYES
No. 4-seed Ohio State (13-6) had to win a pair of games to reach the Big Ten Tournament Final, first defeating Rutgers, 17-7, and then Maryland.
Ohio State's powerful offense has racked up 13.42 goals per game on 47.2 percent shooting. Conversely, the Buckeyes have held opponents to 9.84 goals per game on 43.1 percent shooting. OSU attempts a shade over 28 shots per game, while giving up 22.8.
NCAA Division I's active career leader in assists, Jackie Cifarelli, once again leads the Scarlet and Gray in scoring with 16 goals and 50 helpers for 66 points. Chase leads the team in goals (53) and draw controls (71), while Porretto (38 goals), Mary Kate Facchina (31), Rainey Hodgson (28), Molly Wood (28) and Dabrowski (26) round out the impressive lineup of scorers.
In net, senior Tori DeScenza is having another fine season. The 2014 ALC Goalkeeper of the Year has a .452 save percentage and 10.02 GAA. Last year, DeScenza saved .492 and had an 8.06 GAA.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. OHIO STATE
The Nittany Lions own a decisive 18-5 series lead against the Buckeyes including this year's 14-13 victory at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Penn State and Ohio State first met on April 13, 1997, a 14-3 PSU win. The past six meetings have been decided by three goals or less with the last two decided by a lone goal.
All-Time Series: Penn State leads 18-5
PSU Streak: 1 win
First Meeting: 4/13/97, PSU 14-3
Last Meeting: 4/4/15, PSU 14-13
Last PSU Win: 4/4/15, PSU 14-13
Last OSU Win: 4/13/14, 10-9
Largest PSU Win: 16-5 (4/1/00)
Largest OSU Win: 17-12 (4/20/08)
BALANCED SCORING
The Nittany Lions have received goals from 14 different sources this season with nine different double-digit scorers in all.
Steph Lazo (37) leads the bunch followed by Tatum Coffey (32), Madison Cyr (29), Jenna Mosketti (24), Katie O'Donnell (23), Kelly Lechner (23), Maggie McCormick (21), Jess Loizeaux (10), and Abby Smucker (10).
MCCORMICK RISES IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Maggie McCormick is the current Penn State record holder for assists (129) and has risen to fourth in all-time points (255). Her point total is the most by a Nittany Lion in a single career since Tami Worley registered 289 in 1986-89. McCormick (121 goals) is 14th all-time at Penn State in scoring.
In her previous game against Ohio State, the Buckeyes elected to faceguard her, holding the 5-11 senior without a point.
LAZO LEADING THE LIONS
Despite missing two games with injury, Penn State sophomore Steph Lazo is the team's leader in goals with 37.
Lazo had a five-goal game against Lehigh and a hat trick against Bucknell before scoring two vs. Duquesne. She found the back of the net once more against Virginia in February and added another hat trick vs. Loyola on March 7.
Lazo's hat trick against Stanford was her fourth game with three or more goals before she added two more tallied at Rutgers. Lazo notched her sixth game of three or more goals vs. Ohio State and recorded hat tricks at Cornell, at Northwestern, at Maryland and again vs. Northwestern, giving her nine games this season with at least three goals.
In all, Lazo has 44 points on the season, the second-most on the team. She trails only Maggie McCormick (61, 21-40). Entering 2015, Lazo had only one goal to her name.
FIVE LIONS EARN ALL-BIG TEN DISTINCTION
The Big Ten Conference announced its first women's lacrosse all-conference team on Wednesday afternoon and it features five Nittany Lions. Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.), Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) and Abby Smucker (Bel Air, Md.) each received unanimous selection, while Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.) and Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) rounded out Penn State's All-Big Ten roster.
The Nittany Lions made up 25 percent of the inaugural All-Big Ten Team, with No. 1 Maryland taking home seven spots. In addition to the five representatives, McCormick represents Penn State as the team's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
MCCORMICK NAMED A TEWAARATON NOMINEE FOR A SECOND TIME
Senior attacker Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) was named to a Tewaaraton Award nominee on Thursday (April 23) afternoon. McCormick is one of the top 25 women's lacrosse players in the nation up for the highest award in collegiate lacrosse.
From the 25 nominees, a finalists list of five athletes will be selected with their male counterparts on Thursday, May 7 to be invited to the ceremony. The 15th annual Tewaaraton Award Ceremony will be May 28 in Washington at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
McCormick is a nominee for the second time in her career (2013 as a sophomore). One of the top distributors in college lacrosse, McCormick is fifth in the nation in assists (35) and assists per game (2.33).
MOVIN' ON UP
The Nittany Lions moved up a spot in both major national polls this week after a hard fought loss Maryland. The Nittany Lions check in with season-best rankings of No. 7 in both the IWLCA Coaches Poll and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. In the NCAA RPI, PSU moved up three spots to No. 9.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State, currently No. 9 in the NCAA RPI, will almost be assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament if the Lions don't capture the automatic bid Sunday afternoon.
The 26-team bracket will be revealed at 9 PM Sunday night on NCAA.com.