UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –Penn State women's lacrosse outscored Pittsburgh 7-1 in the second half and 5-0 in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers’ strong start to the game ensured a 12-10 win for Pittsburgh on Tuesday afternoon in the Pitt Sports Dome.
The loss dropped Penn State to 2-2 on the season, while the Panthers improved to 2-1.
Junior Erika Ho posted a team high four points on three goals and an assist. The attacker secured 10 draws for PSU and scooped a ground ball. Senior Brooke Hoss recorded her first hat trick of the season on just three shots. Sophomore Delaney Radin put up three points on a goal and two assists. Redshirt junior Elise Smigiel rounded out multi-point scorers with a goal and an assist.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1 – Penn State 1, Pittsburgh 7
Junior attacker Erika Ho scored the first tally of the contest on a free-position attempt, but Pitt replied with seven unanswered goals to close the first quarter.
Quarter 2 – Penn State 3, Pittsburgh 11
The Panthers scored the first four goals of the second quarter to rush out to an 11-1 lead.
The Nittany Lions finally broke the nearly 15-minute scoring drought with a Brooke Hoss goal at 2:46 remaining in the second quarter. Elise Smigiel scored her sixth goal of the season to cut the deficit to eight at the end of the first half.
Quarter 3 – Penn State 5, Pittsburgh 12
After a scoreless stretch of over seven minutes to open the second half. Senior Brooke Hoss found the back of the net twice in the third quarter to complete her first hat trick of the season and cut the Pittsburgh lead to 11-5.
The Panther’s tallied one score in the third with 2:34 remaining to keep a seven-goal lead headed into the last quarter.
Quarter 4 – Penn State 10, Pittsburgh 12
Penn State battled in the fourth quarter, scoring five goals and holding Pittsburgh to two shots and no goals.
Delaney Radin opened the Penn State run on a feed from Kelly MacKinney with 11:05 remaining, before Erika Ho tallied her second goal of the day on a free position shot. Less than a minute later, Lauren Saltz put away her seventh score of the season on an assist from Elise Smigiel.
Pitt staved off the PSU attack for nearly five minutes until Emma Kelly put away a free position attempt to bring the deficit to three goals, and Ho finished her hat trick on an assist from Radin, but the Nittany Lions ran out of time in the Steel City, falling 12-10 in the Pitt Sports Dome.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions return home next week to take on Drexel on Wednesday, February 26. First draw is set for 4 p.m. at Panzer Stadium.