UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's lacrosse team fell 16-13 in a tough battle on Sunday against No. 8 Virginia at Panzer Stadium. The Nittany Lions took a 13-12 lead with 9:25 remaining in the game, but the Cavaliers closed out the game with four unanswered goals. Penn State dropped to 5-7 overall, while UVA improved to 10-5.
A balanced effort saw five players score at least two goals for the Nittany Lions. Senior Kayla Brisolari led the blue and white with a career high-tying four goals, adding six draw controls and a caused turnover. Sophomore Sophia Triandafils contributed two goals and three assists. Senior Delaney Muldoon and sophomore Quinn Nicolai each added two goals and an assist. Junior Maria Auth scored twice and Kristin Roberto found the net once. Senior Kelly Daggett had three assists. Freshman Taylor Suplee made 12 saves, her seventh double-digit effort of the year.
Maggie Jackson and Avery Shoemaker each led Virginia with four goals. Jackson added 10 draw controls. Ashlyn McGovern contributed three goals. Sammy Mueller had two goals and two assists, while Angie Loynaz scored twice. Angie Loynaz had a goal and an assist. Charlie Campbell made 13 saves in goal.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 24:48 mark, including goals by McGovern, Jackson and Kloak.
Penn State answered with its own 3-0 run. Triandafils found the net off an assist by Nicolai with 24:14 remaining in the half. Just over a minute later, Nicolai tallied her own goal off a feed by Muldoon. Auth tied the game with 21:29 to go in the half off an assist by Daggett.
Virginia scored the next two goals as McGovern and Loynaz found the net, taking a 5-3 lead with 13:46 remaining. Penn State responded with a goal by Muldoon just 22 seconds later, off a feed by Triandafils, and Brisolari re-tied the game at the 10:43 mark.
The teams traded the next four goals. Mueller gave the Cavaliers a 6-5 lead, but Brisolari answered off a dish by Daggett. After a goal by McGovern with 5:47 to go in the half, Brisolari clinched a hat-trick and tied the game at the 3:04 mark to even the score going into the break.
Muldoon gave the blue and white an 8-7 lead with a man-up goal just 31 seconds into the second half. UVA answered with two goals by Jackson, but Nicolai tied the game, off a dime by Triandafils, at 9-9.
Virginia scored the next two goals, one by Shoemaker and one by Jackson, but Penn State answered with a 3-0 run. Auth weaved through the defense to score with 20:16 to go in the game. Roberto added a goal a minute later, off an assist by Triandafils. Four minutes later, Triandafils tallied a goal off a pass from Daggett to give PSU a 12-11 lead.
A tally by Shoemaker with 10:02 remaining was answered by a free-position goal by Brisolari, her fourth of the day, with 9:25 left in the game.
However, Virginia closed out the game with four straight goals, sparked by Loynaz' snipe with 8:12 left. Shoemaker scored two minutes later and Mueller added a goal at the 5:22 mark. Shoemaker scored again with 14 seconds left.
The Nittany Lions return to action on Tuesday, April 16 when they travel to Duquesne. Postponed from earlier in the season, the matchup will start at 3 p.m. at Rooney Field.
Senior Kayla Brisolari led PSU with four goals