UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 20 Penn State women's lacrosse earned its bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament during the selection show on Sunday, May 7. The Nittany Lions will make their 26th appearance in the national tournament and first since 2018.
Penn State (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten) is set to take on No. 10 Stony Brook (14-3, 7-0 CAA) in Baltimore, Md. on Friday, May 12. The game is set to air on ESPN+ with a 7 p.m. first draw. The winner of the match up will take on the winner of the Loyola vs. Fairfield game happening prior to the Nittany Lion's contest. The second round will be played in Baltimore on Sunday, May 14 at 2 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
vs. No. 10 Stony Brook
- Date: Friday, May 12, 2023 | Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Location: Baltimore, Md. | Venue: Ridley Athletic Complex
- Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+ | Notes
- Admission: Ticket
- Tournament Central
PENN STATE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- Five-time National Champions: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1987 and most recent, 1989
- National runner-up in 1986 and 1988
- Last final four appearance: 2017, 20-10 loss to Maryland
- Prior to the most recent five years, Penn State went to seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2012-2018
- Appearances:
- First round: 11
- Second round: 4
- Quarterfinals: 13
- Semifinals: 8
- Championship: 6
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State dropped a tough quarterfinal match up to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. The final score was 14-8.
- O'Neill continued her scoring streak to 21 consecutive games with a goal with her two in the game.
- Sophomore Lauren Saltz scored a career best two goals and was responsible for six of Penn State's 15 draw control wins to edge Michigan 15-11 in the circle.
- Brooke Hoss was two-for-two on offense.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RANKS
- Penn State ranks first in the Big Ten and 15th in the country in caused turnovers (174) as well as first in conference and 29th nationally in ground balls (296).
- Sammy Dupcak ranks 13th nationally in ground balls (50) and is second in the conference. She is also third in the Big Ten in caused turnovers (29). Ellie Hollin is ninth in the Big Ten with 29 ground balls and sixth with 24 caused turnovers.
- Kristin O'Neill is fourth in the country in shots per game (8.47).
PENN STATE –STONY BROOK SERIES
- The Nittany Lions-Seawolves series is short, with only one meeting in the history. Stony Brook defeated Penn State 21-13 in the competition in April of 2018. The two teams have not seen one another since.
SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES
- Stony Brook is coming of its first CAA Tournament Championship on Saturday, May 6 when it defeated Towson 19-4.
- The Seawolves are on a five-game winning streak .
- Stony Brook has top-25 wins over Michigan, Yale and Stanford.
- Ellie Masera was named a first team Midseason All-American while Haley DIllon, Kailyn Hart and Clare Levy earned honorable mention honors.
- Masera was also selected to the top-25 finalist for The Tewaaraton Award.
- Masera leads the Seawolves in goals with 67 and ranks fifth nationally in goals per game with 3.94. and points per game with 5.12.
- Stony Brook sits at fourth in the nation in scoring defense (7.82) and scoring margin (7.53). It also ranks fifth in shots on goal per game with 25.65.
NITTANY LIONS TO WATCH
- Kristin O'Neill and Ellie Hollin were named to All-Big Ten first team. Kayla Abernathy, Sammy Dupcak, Gretchen Gilmore and Meghan Murray earned second team. Rachel Spilker is selected to the Sportsmanship Team as announced by the Big Ten (4/26).
- Haley Urgo was named the IL/IWLCA and Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week (4/18) after her five caused turnovers and three ground balls in a 12-7 win over No. 10 Maryland.
- O'Neill and Dupcak were named ILWomen Midseason All-American Honorable Mentions. This is O'Neill's second year receiving the distinction.
- Sophomore defender Ellie Hollin was named the IL/IWLCA and Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week after leading the defense to a first half shut out in a 13-3 win over Ohio State (3/25).
- Junior Gilmore was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week and IL/IWLCA Co-Offensive Player of the Week this week (3/21) after her 10-goal performance last week. She posted four goals in a 13-12 win over Towson and six goals in a 16-14 win at No. 14 Princeton.
- Junior co-captain O'Neill was named to the 2023 Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List.
2023 CAPTAINS
- Head coach Missy Doherty named seniors Rachel Spilker and Regan Nealon and junior Kristin O'Neill as captains for the 2023 season.
- This is Spilker's second season as a co-captain for the Nittany Lions.