UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. –Penn State women’s lacrosse score six of its twelve goals in spans of less than 60 seconds as the Nittany Lions downed visiting Rutgers in the pouring rain on Thursday evening at Panzer Stadium. With the win, Penn State improves to 5-7, (3-2 Big Ten) while Rutgers falls to 8-5 (2-2 Big Ten).
Lauren Saltz led all scorers with five points on five goals in the contest. She also scooped four ground balls and won five draw controls. Erika Ho and Kelly MacKinney followed for the home team, each posting four points on two goals and two assists. Ho won a game-high seven draw controls while causing a turnover and scooping a ground ball. MacKinney vacuumed up two ground balls. Brooke Hoss, Elise Smigiel, and Brooke Long each also tallied a goal in the game.
Defensively, Lilly Spilker had a career-day with five caused turnovers and two ground balls, while surrendering no turnovers of her own. Sydney Manning made nine stops for a .474 save percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Quarter 1 – Penn State 3, Rutgers 2
Hoss opened the scoring for a second-straight game, putting away a free-position attempt just 46 seconds into the contest. Penn State won the ensuing draw, but Rutger’s netminder Lexie Coldiron made her first save on the evening and the Scarlet Knights responded with a goal less than a minute after Hoss’s tally.
The visitors tallied another score with 9:55 to go in the quarter, but a MacKinney free position and a feed from MacKinney to Saltz both found the back of the net at PSU took a 3-2 lead with 5:47 to go, but no one could find the net over the remaining minutes, preventing a scoring change.
Quarter 2 – Penn State 7, Rutgers 4
Rutgers got the first goal of the second quarter, but a second MacKinney to Saltz connection gave PSU the lead back.
Smigiel put away an assist from Ho to build the lead out to two just 38 seconds later.
Rutgers stole one back on the free position, but Saltz pushed the Penn State lead out to three with back-to-back tallies by the end of the quarter to match her career-high goals in the first half.
Quarter 3 – Penn State 12, Rutgers 6
RU opened the second half scoring with a goal off the eight-meter just 37 seconds into the half, but Saltz had the answer, sparking what would become a three-goal run for the Nittany Lions to lead 10-5 with 9:04 left in the third.
Rutgers looked to find some momentum at the 7:40 mark with a score, but two more goals by PSU in the final two minutes of the quarter gave the Nittany Lions a six-goal lead with 45 minutes in the books.
Quarter 4 – Penn State 12, Rutgers 10
After over five minutes of scoreless lacrosse to open the fourth, Rutgers scored four unanswered to cut Penn State’s lead down to two with just over three minutes remaining, but the Blue and White defense stood strong, preventing the comeback and securing the win.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions stay home for a midday Sunday contest against Ohio State as the team celebrates alumni day and youth lacrosse day. First draw between the two foes is set for 12 p.m. at Panzer Stadium.