TOWSON, Md. – The Penn State women's lacrosse team picked up its first victory of the year with a 12-9 win at Towson on Saturday at Johnny Unitas Field. The Nittany Lions benefitted from a balanced attack that saw three players with three or more goals. Penn State has won eight of its last nine season openers.
Senior Sophia Triandafils led the Nittany Lions with a career high-tying four goals, including two in each half. Fellow senior Kristin Roberto tallied three goals, including two in the first half. Fellow senior Maria Auth found the net three times in the first half, earning her 150th career point on the third goal.
Freshman Meghan Murray and junior Quinn Nicolai each scored once, while senior Yasmain Hamood added an assist. Roberto won six draws for the Nittany Lions, while freshman Olivia Dirks won four. Penn State won the draw control battle, 12-11.
Eight different players had a caused turnover, while sophomore goalie Taylor Suplee recorded 12 saves and a team-high seven groundballs. She had seven saves in the first half.
The Tigers were paced by senior Shelby Stack, who recorded three goals and an assist. Sophomore Kerri Thornton and freshman Blair Pearre each had two goals. Gabby Garrett and Hannah Hobbes both recorded one goal. Freshman goalie Carly Merlo made six saves.
Towson got on the board first on a goal by Pearre, but the Nittany Lions responded with a 3-0 run. Triandafils tied the game with 21:23 to go in the first half. Roberto put PSU ahead, 2-1, with a free-position goal before Triandafils added another off an assist by Hamood.
However, Towson responded with their own 3-0 run. Pearre found the net again before a pair of tallies by Stack. The Tigers held a 4-3 lead with 16:52 remaining in the period.
Auth answered with a pair of goals for the blue and white, with the first coming on a free-position look. Murray's first career goal gave Penn State a 6-4 lead with 10:48 to go in the half.
After a goal by Towson's Stack, the Nittany Lions went on another 3-0 run, sparked by Roberto. Three minutes later, Auth found the net for the third time to secure her first hat-trick of the season. Nicolai scored with 1:35 remaining in the half. Towson's Hobbes answered with a goal. The Nittany Lions led 9-6 at the break.
The Tigers cut Penn State's lead to one early in the second half. Thornton found the net at the 26:07 mark and Garrett scored three minutes later to cut the Nittany Lion advantage to 9-8.
Roberto responded with a tally at the 21:16 mark to stretch the lead to 10-8. Towson again cut their deficit to one on a score by Thornton.
The Nittany Lions closed out the win with two goals by Triandafils. The first came with 7:10 left with the senior coming from behind the net. A few minutes later, Triandafils found open space in the middle and sent one to the back of the net to extend the PSU lead to 12-9.
The Nittany Lions make their home debut on Saturday, February 15 against Lehigh. First draw is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Panzer Stadium.
Follow along with the action on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensLacrosse) and Twitter/Instagram (@PennStateWLAX).
Senior Sophia Triandafils led PSU with a career high-tying four goals