UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State opened Big Ten men's lacrosse play with an 18-7 loss to No. 1 Maryland on Sunday night at Panzer Stadium.
The Terrapins, who were coming off a 23-12 win over No. 2 Virginia, which remained at No. 2 following the loss, stayed unbeaten at 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions saw their record dip to 2-7 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Five players contributed to Penn State's seven goals, led by freshmen Will Peden and Nils Barry with two apiece. Grant Haus, Mac Costin and Mark Sickler each scored one goal, while Canyon Birch tallied an assist.
Penn State ran in to an offensive juggernaut as Maryland entered the game as the top-scoring team in the country at 18.29 goals per game and best in the nation in scoring margin at +8.57. Keegan Khan paced the Terrapins with four goals and one assist. Eric Malever finished with three goals and two assists, while Logan Wisnauskas totaled four assists and one goal.
Luke Wierman, who entered with the third-best faceoff percentage in the nation at .657, did his part to give Maryland's potent offense a chance to score. He went 16-21 on the night and added a goal.
To the credit of Penn State's defensive effort, the Lions caused nine turnovers and saw Maryland commit 18 in the game. Haus, Sam Sweeney, Birch, Brian Townsend, Kyle Aldridge, Sickler, Sutton Boland, Brayden Peck, and Kevin Parnham caused one turnover apiece. Haus, Peden, Boland and Peck each picked up three ground balls.
More than 1,100 fans were in attendance for Sunday night's game despite real-feel temperatures in the single digits. The program honored the 1962 team following the first quarter and three-time All-American Grant Ament '20 following the third quarter.
Penn State continues league play when it travels to play Ohio State on Friday at 5 p.m. The game will air live on ESPNU.
Ohio State is 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten following an 18-7 loss to Rutgers.
