UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 22 Penn State women's lacrosse found its footing in the second outing of 2025, taking home a 16-4 win over in-state foe Bucknell on Wednesday evening in Holuba Hall.
The result moved the Nittany Lions to 1-1 on the season, while the Bison dropped their season opener.
Sophomore Kelly MacKinney lead the Nittany Lion offense for a second straight game, tallying seven points on a goal and six assists. Her goal streak extended to five games, while she moved her assist streak moved to 12 consecutive games. Redshirt junior Elise Smigiel posted four points on a hat trick and an assist. Both tallies marked career-bests in the Blue and White for the Marquette transfer. Senior Brooke Hoss, junior Emma Kelly, redshirt freshman Minka Martinez, and freshman Ellie Wisch also tallied multi-point outings.
Junior Erika Ho had a career day in the circle, winning seven draws.
Sophomore Sydney Manning posted five saves and allowed just one goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1 – Penn State 3, Bucknell 1
Ellie Wisch opened the scoring for both teams, finding the back of the net 2:40 into the game on a feed from Kelly MacKinney. MacKinney for a tally of her own on a free position shot to take a 2-0 lead before Hoss boosted the lead to 3-0 just over five minutes into the contest.
Bucknell finally got on the boards with 6:34 remaining to cut into the Nittany Lion. Bucknell was charged with a yellow card at 5:38 remaining in the quarter, but PSU could not capitalize on the woman-up, leading to a 3-1 score after 15 minutes.
Quarter 2 – Penn State 11, Bucknell 1
Despite being held off the score books for over four minutes to open the quarter, the Nittany Lions offense exploded, posting eight goals in 11 minutes on just 11 shots, including two tallies 13 seconds apart from Brooke Hoss and Lauren Saltz.
Elise Smigiel and Kelly MacKinney both notched multiple points in the second quarter alone, and the Penn State 10-goal advantage to close the half resulted in a running clock, which stuck for the rest of the game.
The Nittany Lions shutout of the Bison in the quarter marked the first time PSU held an opponent scoreless for an entire quarter since the first quarter of last year’s regular season battle against Ohio State.
Quarter 3 – Penn State 13, Bucknell 2
Ellie Wisch opened the second half with the fourth foal of her collegiate career before Bucknell broke its scoring drought of over 25 minutes with a score at 10:33.
Emma Kelly ensured the Nittany Lions won the quarter, finding the goal at the 2:15 mark on an unassisted score for the first of the 2025 season.
Quarter 4 – Penn State 16, Bucknell 4
Redshirt freshman Minka Martinez posted her first collegiate point just over four minutes into the final quarter on an assist to Emma Kelly before the Bison scored again, but the Nittany Lions defended their lead and then some, outscoring the Bison 2-1 down the stretch.
GAME NOTES
- PSU moved to 22-0-0 all-time against the Bison.
- MacKinney eclipsed 50 career points in the contest.
- Hoss is now three goals away from reaching 75 across her career.
- Penn State won 20 draw controls compared to Bucknell’s four.
UP NEXT
Penn State gets its first road test of the season when the team travels to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to take on Saint Joseph’s. The matchup is set to go down on Saturday, February 15 with draw at 1 p.m.