UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 14 Penn State Men's Lacrosse team battled for a 15-13 win over No. 12 Ohio State on Saturday at Panzer Stadium. Penn State created separation with a 4-0 run early in the second half and held on for the victory. The Nittany Lions moved to 1-2 on the season, while the Buckeyes dropped to 1-2.
Junior TJ Malone tied his career high with seven points, including five goals. He scored three times in the second half. Dylan Foulds registered four goals with three coming in the first quarter. Mac O'Keefe added three goals. Jackson Reynolds contributed a goal and an assist, while Bobby Burns and Grant Haus each had one goal. Colby Kneese made three saves in the win.
With three goals on the day, O'Keefe now has 197 for his career. That moved him into a tie with Brown's Dylan Molloy (2014-17) for fifth all-time in NCAA Division I. O'Keefe is two goals away from tying Albany's Connor Fields (2015-18) and Duke's Max Quinzani (2007-10) for third all-time.
Gerard Arceri won 13 faceoffs against the Buckeyes to bring his career total to 813. He needs three more to pass Duke's Brendan Fowler (2011-14) for eighth all-time in NCAA Division I.
The Buckeyes were led by Tre Leclaire and Jack Myers, who each tallied three goals. Griffin Hughes and Jackson Reid each contributed two goals and an assist. Skyler Wahlund recorded five saves.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 11 minutes of the game. Foulds opened the scoring, finding the net off an assist by Seamus Glynn at the 9:32 mark. Two minutes later, Malone sniped a goal off a feed from Reynolds. PSU's lead was extended to three on another tally by Foulds, this time after a dish from Malone.
A goal by Ohio State's Scott White was answered with Foulds' third goal of the half to give Penn State a 4-1 advantage with 2:12 remaining in the opening frame.
The Buckeye's Grant Mitchell found the net with 1:13 left in the quarter. However, Penn State responded with a score by Malone.
Burns opened the second quarter with a tally to extend Penn State's lead to 6-2. The Buckeyes answered with a pair of goals, one by Reid and the other by Leclaire.
Reynolds gave Penn State a 7-4 lead with a snipe at the 11:38 mark after receiving a feed from Jack Kelly. However, OSU's Leclaire scored back-to-back goals to end the half. Penn State led 7-6 at the break.
The Buckeyes tied the game with a goal by Myers to start the second half.
A score by Haus sparked a 4-0 run by the Nittany Lions. Malone's second tally of the game pushed the PSU lead to 9-7. O'Keefe added to that with a snipe before Malone scored again to extend the lead to 11-7.
Goals by the Buckeye's Reid and Hughes cut the Penn State advantage to 11-9 to end the third quarter.
Malone added his fifth goal of the day to open the fourth quarter. Foulds followed with another snipe, off a feed from Luke Mercer, to extend Penn State's lead to 13-9 with 10:46 remaining.
The Buckeyes responded with three straight goals, one each by Johnny Wiseman, Hughes and Myers to cut the PSU advantage to 13-12.
However, O'Keefe answered with his second tally of the game, off an assist by Malone to put Penn State ahead, 14-12.
Ohio State's Myers scored to bring it back to a one-goal game, 14-13, with 3:55 remaining.
O'Keefe sealed the win with a tally, off an assist by Kelly, with 2:29 left to go.
The Nittany Lions continue their Big Ten slate next Saturday, March 13 at Johns Hopkins. The contest is scheduled for noon on ESPNU.
Junior TJ Malone