April 17, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 14 Penn State men's lacrosse's (7-5, 1-2) comeback effort fell short, as the Nittany Lions fell short in a 12-11 overtime decision to No. 17 Johns Hopkins (7-4, 2-1) Sunday evening, in front of a record-setting crowd of 2,708 at the PSU Lacrosse Field.
Junior Nick Aponte matched a career-high mark, leading the team with four goals, while also adding three ground balls. Senior TJ Sanders and junior Dan Craig added two goals apiece. Redshirt junior Matt Florence and freshmen Kevin Hill and Nick Spillane added one goal each to round out the scoring effort.
Freshman Grant Ament and sophomore Ryan Keenan dished out two assists each, while junior Mike Sutton and Hill tallied one each.
Junior Billy Lombardi led the Nittany Lions from the faceoff "x," going 15-for-26, while also leading the team with seven ground balls.
Sophomore goalie Will Schreiner led the team with 12 saves, marking his third outing with at least 10 saves.
The Blue Jays opened the game on a 4-0 run for an early advantage with 6:16 remaining in the first quarter. Aponte cut the Penn State deficit in half with back-to-back goals, scoring his second with just a single second on the clock to send the Nittany Lions into the second quarter trailing 4-2.
Scoring a minute into the second quarter, Sanders drew Penn State within one, 6-5, with his first goal of the frame. Both Penn State and Johns Hopkins traded goals for the remainder of the stanza, as a goal from Craig and another from Sanders kept PSU within one, 6-5 at halftime.
The Blue Jays came out of the break with a goal to move ahead by as many as two, 7-5, with 13:01 remaining in the third quarter. Penn State came storming back, with consecutive goals from Hill and Spillane to tie the score, 7-7 with 10 seconds left in the period.
Johns Hopkins responded with two goals in a row to go back up by two, 9-7 with 8:58 remaining in regulation. Penn State called timeout and regrouped with a goal from Aponte, off a pass from Ament, 9-8. Craig followed with an equalizer, weaving through traffic with a goal to tie the score, 9-9 with 7:29 remaining in the game. The Blue Jays responded once more with back-to-back goals to retake the lead, 11-9.
Rallying back, Florence followed a goal from Aponte with another goal to make it 11-11 with less than 30 seconds in regulation. The Nittany Lions continued to hold off Johns Hopkins, sending the game into an overtime period.
The Nittany Lions could not capitalize on its opening offensive possession as the Blue Jays netted the game winner with 2:02 remaining in the frame to end the game.
Penn State hits the road next week for its final road trip of the regular season. The Nittany Lions are set to travel to Rutgers for a rare Friday night matchup April 22 in Piscataway. Opening faceoff is set for 8 p.m. with live coverage on the Big Ten Network.
NOTES: Nick Aponte matched a career-high mark with four goals, stretching his point-scoring streak to 30 consecutive games with at least one point ... The Nittany Lions move to 1-2, after falling short in OT for the second consecutive outing ... Penn State also slides to 4-4 against ranked opponents and 5-2 on the year when scoring 10 or more goals ... Junior Billy Lombardi finished 15-for-26 from the faceoff "x" for a career-high mark, while also matching a career-high total with seven ground balls ... TJ Sanders logged his eight multi-goal game of the season, extending his point-scoring streak to 26 consecutive games.