May 9, 2015
| #7 PENN STATE at #8 VIRGINIA | |
| NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND | |
| 15-4 | 12-6 |
| Sunday, May 10 at 4 p.m. | |
| KLÃ-CKNER STADIUM | CHARLOTTESVILLE | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL | |
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TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | Virginia | PROMOTIONS Pink Night | Pink Giveaways |
| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | 2015 Stats | UVA |
| 15-4 | Overall Record | 12-6 |
| 4-1 | Conference Record | 4-3 |
| 259 | Goals Scored | 233 |
| 176 | Goals Allowed | 184 |
| 13.63 | Goals Scored/gm. | 12.94 |
| 9.26 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 10.22 |
| 545 | Shots | 504 |
| 28.7 | Shots/gm. | 28.0 |
| 103 | Assists | 115 |
| 44-96 | Free-Position Shots | 39-96 |
| 261 | Ground Balls | 257 |
| 241 | Draw Controls | 234 |
| 207 | Turnovers | 163 |
| 157 | Caused Turnovers | 103 |
| 146 | Saves | 137 |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The No. 7 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team looks to reach its third quarterfinal round in four seasons when it takes on No. 8 Virginia on Sunday at Klöckner Stadium. Penn State and the Cavaliers will face off for a second time this season with VirginiaSports.com streaming the game for free.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Penn State is making its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance this season. Under head coach Missy Doherty, the Nittany Lions are making their fourth straight appearance, a feat not accomplished at PSU since 1993, which was a string of nine in a row.
The Nittany Lions are looking for their third trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals in four years.
Penn State is 17-18 all-time in the tournament with a 4-10 mark in away games. PSU's last win at an opponent's field in tournament play was May 8, 1999 at Princeton in the quarterfinals.
Penn State and Virginia have met three previous times with the Cavaliers holding a 2-1 edge. The two programs are among the top four teams in terms of NCAA Tournament appearances (PSU 21, UVa 28).
This is the second straight season Penn State has had to travel to Charlottesville for the NCAA Tournament.
LIONS WIN NCAA OPENER OVER HOPKINS
A pair of four-goal games by Jenna Mosketti and Tatum Coffey led No. 7 Penn State past No. 17 Johns Hopkins, 14-11, on Friday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium in the NCAA First Round.
Penn State, making its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance, moves on to play No. 7 seed Virginia. That NCAA Second Round game will take place on Sunday at 4 p.m. inside Klöckner Stadium. The Nittany Lions and Cavs meet for a second time following a thrilling last-second 16-15 UVa win on Feb. 28 at Holuba Hall.
Junior goalie Emi Smith backstopped the Nittany Lions (15-5) with 11 saves, while her offense was just the second to drop 14-plus goals on Hopkins (14-4) this season, doubling JHU's goals against season average (7.06 goals allowed per game).
Mosketti's impressive afternoon was highlighted by a season-high nine draw controls and four ground balls and a caused turnover. She was joined by Katie O'Donnell, who had a pair of goals and an assist for a three-point day along with two draw controls.
Madison Cyr tallied two goals, while Kristin Brent tied her season-high with two points on a goal and an assist. Ally Heavens chipped in with a free-position goal and Big Ten Tournament MVP Abby Smucker had a two caused turnovers by drawing charges.
STRIVING FOR WIN NO. 16
By beating Hopkins, the Nittany Lions attained their first 15-win season since 1999, when that Penn State team reached the NCAA Semifinals with a 15-5 mark. A win on Sunday would give Penn State its first 16-win season since 1989 when the Nittany Lions claimed their second NCAA title.
Penn State's 39 wins over the past three seasons are the most since 1989-91 when those squads gathered 44.
HOW THE CAVALIERS GOT HERE
Virginia (12-6) played its first game in two weeks against Winthrop in the NCAA First Round, defeating the Big South Conference champion, 18-6. The Cavs, who are making their 28th tournament appearance, are an at-large bid out of the ACC.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS
No. 8 Virginia features a high-scoring, balanced offense with multiple weapons on offense. The Cavaliers average a shade under 13 goals per game, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field on 28 shots per game.
The offense is spearheaded by 40-goal scorers Casey Bocklet (42g, 31a) and Liza Blue (44g, 13a), while being facilitated by Courtney Swan who leads the team with 35 assists, while adding 30 goals to the mix. Kelly Boyd (32 goals), Kasey Behr (25), Kelly Reese (21), Mary Alati (16) and Daniella Eppler (12) round out the double-digit scoring crew.
Swan controls the circle with a team-leading 79 draw controls, while Blue has scooped 42 controls.
On defense, Virginia allows 10.22 goals per game on 38.8 percent shooting and 26.3 shots per game. Backstopping the Cavalier effort is ACA Freshman of the Year Rachel Vander Kolk in net. Vander Kolk has stopped 42.7 percent of the shots put on her cage, allowing 10.17 in GAA. Morgan Stephens is UVa's lockdown defender with a team-best 16 caused turnovers and 21 ground balls, while dishing three assists. Stephens also has 31 draw controls.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. VIRGINIA
The Nittany Lions and Cavaliers have met every season since 1983. Penn State looks for its third win in the past five games against Virginia, who holds a 17-8 overall lead in the series.
All-Time Series: Virginia leads 16-8
PSU Streak: 2 losses
First Meeting: 4/2/83, PSU 16-8
Last Meeting: 2/28/15, UVA 16-15
Last PSU Win: 3/3/13, 15-14
Last UVA Win: 2/28/15, 16-15
Largest PSU Win: 3/1/14, 12-11
Largest PSU Win: 23-8 (3/29/86)
Largest UVA Win: 15-5 (3/21/99)
LAST TIME OUT VS. VIRGINIA (Feb. 28, 2015)
No. 9 Penn State went toe-to-toe with No. 8 Virginia, ultimately falling with four seconds remaining on a Casey Bocklet shot in a 16-15 loss at Holuba Hall.
Madison Cyr scored a game-high five goals for Penn State. Katie O'Donnell's goal with 2:26 remaining in the game forced a 15-15 deadlock.
BALANCED SCORING
The Nittany Lions have received goals from 14 different sources this season with nine different double-digit scorers in all.
Tatum Coffey (40) has surged to the PSU lead in goals, scoring 11 in her past three games, followed by Steph Lazo (38), who was held scoreless for the first time this season vs. Hopkins.
Madison Cyr (33), Jenna Mosketti (30), Katie O'Donnell (27), Kelly Lechner (23), Maggie McCormick (22), Jess Loizeaux (10), and Abby Smucker (10) round out Penn State's double-digit scorers.
MCCORMICK STANDS ALONE
Maggie McCormick is the current Penn State record holder for assists (136) and has risen to fourth in all-time points (258). Her point total is the most by a Nittany Lion in a single career since Tami Worley registered 289 in 1986-89. McCormick (122 goals) is 14th all-time at Penn State in scoring.
COFFEY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
With her dazzling performance at the Big Ten Tournament and a four-goal first half vs. Johns Hopkins, Tatum Coffey surged into the Penn State Top 20 for goals (127) and points (169). Those marks rank her 13th and 17th, respectively.
LAZO LEADING THE LIONS
Despite missing two games with injury, Penn State sophomore Steph Lazo has been the team's leader in goals for the majority of the season, tallying 38 thus far..
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 47 points on the season, third-most on the team. She trails only Maggie McCormick (64, 22-42) and Tatum Coffey (51, 40-11). Entering 2015, Lazo had only one goal to her name.
DOHERTY, SMITH CLAIM B1G HONORS
The Big Ten Tournament champion Nittany Lion squad was twice honored on Monday afternoon as head coach Missy Doherty and Emi Smith were named the Big Ten Coach and Goaltender of the Year, respectively. Both Doherty and Smith were unanimous selections by the Big Ten coaches.
Doherty orchestrated Penn State's first tournament championship in her fifth season at the helm. Personally, Doherty collects her second coach of the year honor (2004 CAA, at Towson), while leading her Lions to their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She is the first Nittany Lion head coach to win a conference coach of the year honor.
A junior goalie, Smith had a breakout year for the Blue & White in anchoring PSU's defense. Smith's timely saves this past weekend helped Penn State win its ninth game in the past 10 outings. Smith ranked second in the Big Ten in save percentage (.458) and GAA (9.18).
Smith started 17 of the team's 18 games this year, logging 960-plus minutes of action and collecting 124 saves en route to a 14-4 record. All of her season stats were career bests and she was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
FIVE LIONS EARN ALL-BIG TEN DISTINCTION
The Big Ten Conference announced its first women's lacrosse all-conference team on Wednesday, April 29, 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.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RANKINGS
The Nittany Lions held steady at No. 7 following its two wins in the Big Ten Tournament, while moving up a spot unofficially in the NCAA RPI to No. 8.
POSSIBLE NEXT GAME
The winner of Penn State-Virginia will face the winner of North Carolina-Florida next weekend. If the No. 2 seed Tar Heels win, they will host the NCAA Quarterfinal game.