Feb. 10, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team used a big second half performance to claim their first win of the season by out-scoring the Statesmen, 8-1, over the final two quarters to take the game, 15-8, in Holuba Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions trailed Hobart heading into the half, 7-6, but a 4-0 third quarter performance jump-started the Penn State offense, and the home squad never looked back.
Sophomore Mac O'Keefe found his stroke on Saturday, sniping a season-best five goals, adding an assist as well.
Junior Kevin Hill tallied five points on the day, scoring two goals, and adding three assists. Fellow junior Nick Spillane also dished out three dimes, while adding a goal of his own. Senior Ryan Keenan added two goals and an assist, while Matt Donnelly found the back of the net twice.
Redshirt sophomore Dylan Foulds added two points, tallying a goal and an assist, both on man-up opportunities. Juniors Robby Black and Chris Sabia both added goals for Penn State, while freshman Brian Townsend added an assist.
QUARTER BREAKDOWN
1Q| The Nittany Lions were first on the board as Kevin Hill found Mac O'Keefe for the score just 45-second into the game. Following a Gerard Arceri faceoff win, Matt Donnelly would find the cage just a minute later, giving Penn State a 2-0 advantage. Penn State and Hobart would alternate possession, with Chris Sabia and Tripp Traynor both recording caused turnovers, with Traynor's leading to Mac O'Keefe's second goal of the game. From there Hobart would win four-straight faceoffs, scoring four unanswered goals, over a three-minute span, giving the Statesmen their first lead of the game. Ryan Keenan evened things up with his first goal of the game with 50-seconds remaining. | 4-4
2Q | Straight out of the gate, Kevin Hill gave the lead back to the Nittany Lions as the junior scored just 30-seconds into action. However, Hobart would go on a 3-0 run, taking a 7-5 lead with just 3:27 left to play in the half. With seven seconds remaining in the half, Nick Spillane found Keenan for the score. |HOB 7-6
3Q | Gerard Arceri won the first faceoff of the second half, giving the Nittany Lions the opportunity to tie the game. However, a Penn State turnover gave the ball back to Hobart. Hobart would possess the ball for almost five minutes before Colby Kneese came up with a big save, and the Nittany Lions were able to clear the ball. With the ball inside Hobart's restraining lines, Keenan stepped into a shot that ripped off the post. The rebound found the stick of Matt Donnelly, who flicked the shot by the Hobart goalie, tying the game at 7-7. Arceri won the following face, and freshman Brian Townsend scooped up the ground ball and found Nick Spillane for the score in just 11 seconds. Penn State was then given their first man-up opportunity of the game, and Dylan Foulds was able to capitalize off an assist from O'Keefe. Two minutes later, Spillane dished the ball from behind the cage to Robby Black. Black sniped the upper corner from distance to extend the Nittany Lions' lead. | PSU 10-7
4Q | Arceri again won the quarter-opening faceoff, with Ryan Keenan grabbing the ground ball. Penn State would possess for 90-seconds before Spillane would find Hill for the score. Hill then returned the favor, finding O'Keefe, and extending the Penn State lead, 12-7. With four minutes left to play, Foulds again took advantage of a man-up opportunity, finding O'Keefe for his fourth score of the game. Following a successful clear attempt, defenseman Chris Sabia scored his first goal of the season. With 2:28 left in the game, Hobart would snag their first goal of the second half. With 38 seconds remaining, O'Keefe would sink the dagger, tallying his fifth of the game. | Penn State 15-8
NOTES
Colby Kneese picked up his first win of the season, 1-0, and recorded 12 saves, adding four ground balls.
Mac O'Keefe finished with 5 goals, 1 assist, 4 ground balls, and 1 caused turnover.
This marks just the second career goal for Chris Sabia. Sabia also added 2 caused turnovers and a ground ball.
Gerard Arceri went 16-24 on the 'x' for .667-winning percentage, adding 10 ground balls.
Brayden Peck made his first career start
UP NEXT
Penn State, 1-1, host Stony Brook, 0-1, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 17.