PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – No. 22 Penn State women’s lacrosse earned a hard fought, 13-11 road win at Saint Joseph’s to extend to a two-game win streak.
The first road victory of the 2025 season moves the Nittany Lions to 2-1, while the Hawks drop to 0-3.
Seniors Lauren Saltz and Ally Lipkin led Penn State’s offensive campaign with career best outings, scoring a combined seven goals for the Blue and White. Saltz tallied a game high four goals on five shot attempts and came away with a team best four draw control wins. Lipkin added three goals on three shots and dished out one assist. Redshirt junior Elise Smigiel made her first start as a Nittany Lion, adding two goals along with two from juniors Emma Kelly and Erika Ho.
Redshirt sophomore Maggie Golder led the PSU defense, causing three turnovers and scooping up three ground balls. Between the pipes, sophomore Sydney Manning collected five saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1 – Penn State 2, Saint Joseph’s 1
The Hawks struck first, scoring the game's first goal, despite the Nittany Lions winning the opening draw control.
A yellow card on Saint Joseph’s with 10:39 left in the quarter put Penn State on the woman-up, allowing Smigiel to find the back of the net first for Penn State with an assist from freshman Ellie Wisch.
Saltz continued PSU’s scoring just over five minutes later, boosting the Nittany Lions to a 2-1 lead. Both teams put up strong defensive fronts, leaving the score 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Quarter 2 – Penn State 7, Saint Joseph’s 6
Penn State opened the scoring in the second quarter with two back-to-back goals just 35 seconds apart. After drawing a foul, Lipkin found her first goal of the day on a free position. Moments later, the Nittany Lions came away with the ensuing draw control, allowing Saltz to notch her second goal of the day off a feed from Smigiel, ballooning PSU’s lead to 4-1.
The Hawks quickly reduced the Nittany Lions’ lead to two, but Penn State was able to respond by scoring back-to-back goals once again. Goals from Lipkin and Ho, with her first of the day, propelled the Nittany Lions to a 6-2 lead. Kelly MacKinney recorded her first point of the day, with an assist on Lipkin’s second goal of the quarter.
After a near six-minute scoring drought for the Hawks, Saint Joseph’s found two goals in consecutive fashion to tighten the margin to 6-4.
A free-position goal from Smigiel with 4:08 remaining in the half added to Penn State’s lead, putting her at three points on the day.
The Hawks scored two goals during the final minute of the half, cutting the Nittany Lions’ lead to one heading into halftime.
Quarter 3 – Penn State 10, Saint Joseph’s 8
The Hawks stuck first out of the break, knotting the score at 7-7 but Penn State responded with a 3-0 scoring run stretching over six-plus minutes of game time.
Saltz created the spark, sealing a hat-trick with her third goal of the day to recapture the lead for PSU on an unassisted goal.
Ho was the next to find the back of the net, expanding the Nittany Lions lead to 9-7 on a free position goal. After nearly five minutes of no scoring from either team, Kelly broke the silence with another free position goal.
The home team managed to put one more point across in the final seconds of the third stanza to nudge the Penn State lead to 10-8 after three periods.
Quarter 4 – Penn State 13, Saint Joseph’s 11
Both teams remained scoreless through eight minutes of play in the fourth quarter, putting up strong defensive efforts on both sides. Kelly helped the Nittany Lions regain a three-goal lead with her second free-position goal of the contest.
Saltz found her fourth goal of the game, marking the first four-goal game of her career, off a pass from Lipkin to grab a four-goal lead for the Nittany Lions.
Saint Joseph’s countered with a goal of its own off a draw control win to cut the lead to 12-9 with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Lipkin had the response on an unassisted goal, marking Penn State’s final point of the afternoon.
A late surge from the Hawks over the final minutes fell short of the comeback, sealing a 13-11 Nittany Lions win.
GAME NOTES
- Saltz recorded a career-high four goals on five shot attempts, all on goal.
- Lipkin tallied the first hat-trick of her career.
- Manning’s five saves on the day propelled her past 125 in her career.
- Golder’s three caused turnovers and three ground balls are personal best single-game numbers for the redshirt sophomore.
- The Nittany Lions had 11 free-position shots throughout the contest.
- Penn State advances to 2-0 all-time against Saint Joseph’s.