UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 16 Penn State women's lacrosse defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals, 15-13, at Panzer Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Penn State improves to 10-6 on the season with their third straight victory and 5-2 in the Big Ten. Ohio State moves to 8-9 overall. 1-6 in the Big Ten. With the win, the No. 2 seeded Nittany Lions will move on to tournament semifinals in Evanston, Ill. to play either Maryland or Rutgers on Thursday, May 2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter – Penn State 3, Ohio State 2
Ohio State scored the first goal of the game at 11:45 mark. Penn State then responded with two consecutive goals by Gretchen Gilmore and Meghan Murray.
Erika Ho scored with three minutes left in the first quarter to put the Nittany Lions up by one.
Kayla Abernathy earned her 200th career draw control to end the first quarter.
Second Quarter – Penn State 5, Ohio State 5
The Buckeyes went on a three-goal run to start the second quarter. After yellow cards issued to both sides, Emma Kelly launched a free position shot to the back of the cage to put the Nittany Lions down by one.
Gilmore notched her second goal of the game on a Ohio State power play to even the score 5-5 with less than 30 seconds in the second quarter.
Third Quarter – Penn State 9, Ohio State 9
The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle as the Buckeyes scored a free position goal to open the third quarter. Gilmore responded with a man-up goal from an assist by Kelly MacKinney to earn a hat trick.
Ohio State then notched their seventh goal of the game before Kelly capitalized on a ground ball pickup to tied up the game once again. The sophomore earned her fourth career hat trick less than a minute later to give the Nittany Lions the 8-7 lead.
The Buckeyes scored two more goals before Kelly scored her third consecutive goal to even the game 9-9.
Fourth Quarter – Penn State 15, Ohio State 13
Ohio scored two straight goals before Penn State finally broke through at the 9:55 mark. Meghan Murray was awarded a free position attempt, took a step and spun around a Buckeye defender to put the Nittany Lions within one.
Murray then completed her hat trick a minute later on another free position goal. Gilmore gave Penn State the lead with 6:37 left in the game.
Regan Nealon, Kristin O'Neill and Abernathy solidified Penn State's lead to help them win the game and to move on to the tournament semifinals.
GAME NOTES
>> Goalkeeper Sydney Manning registered six saves in the 60 minutes.
>> Gilmore led the offense with five points coming from four goals and an assist. Kelly was the next leading scorer with four, followed by Murray with a hat trick.
>> The defense had six caused turnovers and scooped up 17 ground balls.
>> O'Neill is five points away from 200 in her career.
UP NEXT
Penn State women's lacrosse will play the winner of the Maryland vs. Rutgers game in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals Thursday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. in Evanston, Ill.
