UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's lacrosse erased an early 6-0 deficit but came up just one goal short against a nationally-ranked Ivy League opponent for the second-straight game, falling 16-15 to No. 4 Cornell on Saturday at Holuba Hall.
The Nittany Lions dropped to 2-5 overall. Their last three games were against top-10 teams as they beat No. 5 Yale 10-6 and lost to No. 6 Penn 10-9 prior to Saturday's game against fourth-ranked Cornell. The Big Red remained unbeaten on the season at 5-0.
Freshman Ethan Long stepped up big for the shorthanded Lions, finishing with three goals, two assists, and three ground balls. The goals were the first of his career.
It was a disastrous start for Penn State as it found itself down 6-0 after 10:35 of play in the opening quarter, but the Lions didn't stay down for long. They scored eight of the next nine goals to take an 8-7 lead into the half.
The comeback was a total team effort with nine different players contributing either a goal or an assist. Long scored twice during the impressive run, including his first career score off a man-up opportunity to cut the deficit to 6-4 early in the second quarter. He added a second goal to bring the Lions within one, 7-6, on another man-up chance with 4:53 to play in the second quarter.
Penn State tied it at 7-7 just 12 seconds later after freshman Hudson Bohn won the faceoff and found a sprinting Grant Haus, who fired from range for his first goal of the season. The Lions then took the lead on Jeb Brenfleck's goal off an assist from Long.
Long contributed to a second comeback after Penn State fell behind 14-10 in the fourth quarter. The Lions went on a 4-0 run that was started by another Long to Brenfleck connection. Freshman Will Peden, Long, and sophomore Luke Mercer followed with goals to tie the game at 14-14 with 8:38 to play.
The teams fought neck-and-neck to the finish. Cornell re-took the lead with 6:16 to play before Penn State tied it again at 15-15 on a goal by Mercer off an assist from Jack Kelly. Aiden Blake scored the eventual game-winner for the Big Red with 1:52 showing on the clock.
Penn State won the ensuing faceoff, but Cornell forced a turnover with 1:01 to play and was able to run out the clock to hang on for the victory.
Eleven Lions finished with at least one goal or one assist, led by Long with his five points. Dan Reaume tallied a goal and three assists, while Brenfleck joined Long with a hat trick. Mac Costin also had three points on two goals and one assist.
Bohn finished with an advantage at the faceoff X, winning 19 of his 34 tries. Aleric Fyock was 50 percent in goal, stopped 16 of the 32 shots he faced.
John Piatelli led Cornell to the win with five goals. Michael Long matched his five points, finishing with four goals and one assist.
Penn State now turns its attention to a non-conference matchup at Bucknell on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The Bison are 5-1 following a 12-7 loss to Boston University.
