March 4, 2017
BALTIMORE, Md. ââ'¬" Senior Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) collected five points while moving into tenth all-time in Penn State history for career assists as the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions defeated Loyola Maryland, 12-8, this afternoon in non-conference women's lacrosse action from the Ridley Athletic Complex.
The beginning of the game was a back-and-forth defensive battle, before the Nittany Lions (6-0) opened the scoring for the fifth time in six games with three goals in just 2:05 of game time.
Junior Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) potted a free-position goal at the 21:10 mark, then just 64 seconds later found the back of the net again before sophomore Kelly Daggett (Bainbridge, Pa.) tickled the twine with a free-position tally of her own at the 19:05 mark for the 3-0 lead.
The Greyhounds (0-4) then scored back-to-back tallies to make it a one-score game as Cami Whiteford and Hannah Powers registered goals just 1:22 apart for the 3-2 score at the 14:00 mark of the first half.
O'Donnell then registered her third hat trick of the season on a strong drive and left handed shot across her body into the top right corner of the cage for the 4-2 lead at the 9:02 mark.
Holly Lloyd ripped a goal in for Loyola from the doorstep at the 1:57 mark before Lazo cut to the middle of the field and fired a side arm shot into the upper ninety region of the goal with just 31 seconds on the clock. However, the Greyhounds came right down the field as Margaret Filippelli went with the bounce shot for her first tally of the season with just 0.3 seconds left for the 5-4 score at the intermission.
Sophomore Madison Carter (Davidsonville, Md.) opened the scoring in the second half as she potted her first goal of the game, but the Greyhounds came right back as Powers scored her second for the 6-5 margin at the 24:43 mark.
O'Donnell then found the back of the net for the fourth time to ignite a three-goal spurt by the Nittany Lions as junior Maggie Gallagher (Bel Air, Md.) and Carter followed with goals just 42 seconds apart for the 9-5 lead at the 15:47 mark.
Loyola responded again as Taylor VanThof notched her first goal of the season at the 14:20 mark and Emily Clark followed with first of the game just 54 seconds later for the 9-7 margin.
Senior Taylor Bleistein then weaved through traffic and fired a bounce shot into the back of the cage for the at the 9:13 mark to spark another three-goal run by Penn State as sophomore Kayla Brisolari (Crofton, Md.) and Lazo followed with goals as 7:07 and 3:58, respectively to pull away with the 12-7 lead.
Powers secured her hat trick with just nine seconds remaining to account for the final score.
Senior Cat Rainone (Newtown Square, Pa.) improves to 5-0 on the season after collecting seven saves while Kady Glynn made 15 saves for Loyola, but falls to 0-4 on the year.
The Nittany Lions held the slim 33-29 edge in shots while going 15-for-16 in clear attempts. PSU also held the 22-14 advantage in ground balls, but the Greyhounds controlled the draw 13-8.
Penn State returns home as they host James Madison on Wednesday at 4 p.m.