March 16, 2016
By Shannon Rostick, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The eighth-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team finished their eighth game of the regular season with a win at home Wednesday afternoon against the seventh-ranked Princeton University Tigers, 14-10.
The Nittany Lions started off strong, with Jenna Mosketti taking the draw and gaining Penn State possession of the ball, allowing Ally Heavens to score a goal within the first minute of the game.
The offensive success continued throughout the first half with the team earning themselves five goals in the first seven minutes of the game.
Mosketti and Madison Cyr made huge offensive contributions in the first half, both earning hat-tricks. Katie O'Donnell also scored, bringing the score to 8-2 at the end of the first half.
This early success is the direct result of the undying talent on the team. Many of the girls on the team have earned themselves a number of awards for their talents. Most recently was freshman Madison Carter, who received four honors this week. Carter was named Inside Lacrosse's StringKing National Player and Rookie of the Week. Additionally, she was named Big Ten Co-Offensive Player and Freshman of the Week.
Head Coach, Missy Doherty praised her players and explained why she believes her team has received such recognition in the conference all across the board.
"We try to have a balanced effort on the team so that it's not just one or two players being our main scorers or defenders every game," she said. "I think that is just one of the many reasons why the awards our girls have earned this season are so spread across the team."
Doherty also talked about how the team tried to hold the ball more and run the clock during the game instead of just trying to score.
"Sometimes working the clock is better than scoring the next goal, just to take some time off the clock and calm things down," said Doherty.
Penn State maintained their lead in the second half and while Princeton got a few more successful shots on goal, shortening the lead, the girls stayed strong.
Cyr netted another three goals in the second half and with one goal apiece from Steph Lazo, Katie O'Donnell, and Madison Carter. That brought the score to the 14-10 final.
With only a few minutes left in the game, Princeton gained possession of the ball and tried to keep it down on their end of the field, threatening to bring the score even closer. Fortunately, Penn State gained and maintained control of the ball in the last 26 seconds, earning themselves yet another win.
Doherty attributed today's win to the many improvements that her team has seen over the first half of the season.
"This game was a great one. We wanted to work on a lot of things and, fortunately, we had some good wins over spring break, but we still wanted to improve our play," said Doherty.
"Today we were more active on the field, our attack was more in front of Princeton's defense, and our defense did a good job staying in front of their attack. It was good to see a great active effort on both sides of the field."
Things are certainly looking good for the remainder of the Nittany Lions' season, with tremendous talent and a 7-1 winning record, there is no doubt the team has a chance at another Big Ten Tournament title.
The team will play again on Sunday on the west coast, against Stanford at 3:00 p.m. ET.