PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Penn State men's lacrosse had the nation's fourth-ranked team on the ropes but closed the regular season with a 15-14 overtime loss to Rutgers on Saturday at SHI Stadium. Ross Scott scored the game-tying goal with eight seconds left in regulation and then scored the game-winner with 2:21 remaining in overtime to give the Scarlet Knights the win.
The Nittany Lions enter the postseason with a 3-10 overall record, which includes five one-goal losses, and a 1-4 mark in the Big Ten. They will be the No. 5 seed and are set to play at fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday, April 30. The Scarlet Knights are the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will play a semifinal game against the winner between third-seeded Ohio State and sixth-seeded Michigan.
Penn State, which had 10 different players score at least one goal in the game, matched its largest lead of the night at 14-11 thanks to a goal by Mark Sickler with 10:42 to play in the fourth quarter. Ronan Jacoby and Brian Cameron each scored for the Scarlet Knights to cut the Lions' lead to one with 5:04 left in regulation, setting the stage for Scott.
The game was back and forth throughout, especially in the first half, which featured seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than one goal through the first two quarters. Rutgers took a 9-8 lead into the break.
Penn State came out strong in the second half, starting the third quarter with a 4-0 run that included a variety of players and positions involved in the offensive success. Ethan Long started the run with a game-tying goal. The Lions then took the lead with a transition goal that started with a save by Jack Fracyon and ended with a score by long-stick midfielder Sam Sweeney off an assist from short-stick defensive midfielder Brian Townsend.
Another short-stick defensive midfielder, Grant Haus, scored the next goal off an assist from Tate Gallagher. It was Haus's second goal of the game. Mac Costin followed with a score to give the Lions a 12-9 lead midway through the third quarter. It was the first of two three-goal leads for Penn State.
Rutgers never led by more than one goal, but its final one-goal lead was the only one it needed as it improved to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten while winning the Friendship Cup for the second-straight year.
Four players – Jack Kelly, Canyon Birch, Jake Morin and Haus – all scored two goals for Penn State. Costin, Long, Dan Reaume, Sickler, Tate Gallagher, and Sweeney each scored once.
Scott led Rutgers with five goals. Mitch Bartolo recorded a hat trick, while Shane Knobloch finished with two goals and four assists.
Penn State played six nationally-ranked teams this regular season. The Lions posted a 10-6 win over then-No. 5 Yale. They suffered one goal losses to No. 4 Rutgers, then-No. 6 Cornell and then No. 4 Penn.
Saturday's game marked the 21st year of the Friendship Cup. Penn State leads 13-8 in those games.
