ANN ARBOR, Mich.- No. 17 Penn State women's lacrosse falls 10-8 to No. 16 Michigan on the road. Penn State moves to 10-4, 2-2 Big Ten while Michigan climbs to 10-5, 2-3 Big Ten.
Junior Kristin O'Neill and freshman Emma Kelly led the offense with two goals apiece. Brooke Barger, Gretchen Gilmore, Erika Ho and Alaina Hamood contributed one goal each to the total.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Jill Smith put the Wolverines on the board first early in the first quarter. Kristin O'Neill worked her way to an unassisted goal to give Penn State its first point of the day with 9:55 to play. O'Neill found her second on another unassisted goal to put the Nittany Lions ahead by one.
Smith scored her second and third of the day to grab the lead back for Michigan with just under five to play. The third goal was a man-up goal for the Wolverines after a yellow card was assessed to Rachel Spilker. Michigan managed one more goal with just over a minute to play in the quarter to leave the score at 4-2.
Second Quarter
Cayden Jarvis entered the game in goal to face a free position shot in the second period of play. Michigan extended its lead to 5-2. The Wolverines continued their 4-0 run with another goal with 10:45 play.
Another free position goal for Michigan gave it a five-point edge with under 10 remaining in the first half. Ashley Bowan re-entered the game between the pipes for the Nittany Lions.
Emma Kelly ended the Penn State scoring drought with a free position goal with 8:59 on the clock to cut the deficit to four goals at 7-3. Brooke Barger sent a rocket to the back of the cage to get the Nittany Lions within three.
Gretchen Gilmore continued the Penn State scoring rally, sneaking one past the Michigan goalkeeper from the right side to claw within two goals. The 3-0 run forced the Wolverines to call timeout with just under five to play in the half at a score of 7-5.
Michigan added a goal following its timeout, but Kelly responded with her own to bring the score back within two at 8-6 with 1:19 on the clock.
A yellow card and a green card assessed to Penn State with under a minute left in the quarter created a two-man-down situation that the Nittany Lions worked out of for the remainder of the half.
Third Quarter
Penn State started two players down in the second half with two cards that carried over from late in the second quarter. Erika Ho ended a scoring dry spell for both teams with a free position goal at 3:19 in the quarter. Neither team scored a goal for nearly 15 minutes of game time and the final third quarter score was 8-7 with Michigan only up by one point.
Fourth Quarter
The same story continued with a scoreless seven minutes of play. Michigan scored its first goal since the first quarter to take a two-goal lead at 9-7 with 8:17 to play in the game. The Wolverines managed another one to extend to a three-point advantage.
Alaina Hamood found her first goal of the day in a last second opportunity with :01 on the clock off a pass from O'Neill to leave the final score at 10-8 for a Michigan win.
OF NOTE
- O'Neill extended her scoring streak to 18 consecutive games with her two goals in the game, marking her 12th multi-goal game of the season. She also produced three caused turnovers and won three draw controls.
- Ho scored her first career collegiate goal on a free position shot.
- The Nittany Lions' defense produced a third quarter shutout with five saves from Ashley Bowan.
- Penn State caused nine Michigan turnovers.
- Sammy Dupcak recorded two caused turnovers and five ground balls.
- The Nittany Lions outshot the Wolverines 27-19.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions return to Happy Valley to host Maryland on Thursday, April 13 for an 8 p.m. game. The contest will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.