UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Five goals from freshman Rocquette Allen and seven points from Tewaaraton Watch List member Erika Ho helped push the No. 24 Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0) over the University of Massachusetts Minutewomen (1-1), 17-9, on Wednesday afternoon in Holuba Hall. The win is the 10th all-time by Penn State over UMass.
Ho, the senior attacker, led the overall offensive effort for Penn State with a hat trick and four assists, shooting 42.9% with 85.7% of her shots being on goal. Allen followed that closely by placing five in the net on nine shots and added an assist for six points. Junior captain Kelly MacKinney posted a hat trick with a pair of an assists for five points with transfer Anna Salerno grabbing two goals and three draws. Emma Kelly secured a goal and tallied five draws and Delaney Radin notched two goals of her own.
Defensively, the trio of Lauren Tinson, Lily Spilker and Susannah O’Connell each caused a pair of turnovers and picked up two ground balls. In the net, Sydney Manning posted 11 saves with three ground balls and a caused turnover.
KEY PERFORMANCES
- Erika Ho – three goals, four assists, seven points, four draw controls
- Rocquette Allen – five goals, one assist, six points, one caused turnover
- Kelly MacKinney – three goals, two assists, five points
- Sydney Manning – 11 saves, three ground balls, one caused turnovers
- Susannah O’Connell – two ground balls, two draw controls, two caused turnovers
FIRST QUARTER
UMass secured the opening possession but a stifling defense by Julia Basciano caused the turnover that led to Salerno securing the first goal of the afternoon that was dished out by Maddie Greco. The Nittany Lions wasted no time, with Salerno grabbing the draw control and MacKinney scoring the second goal of the evening, just a minute after the first with a Payton Wainman assist. Manning would save the next UMass shot and Ho scored with a beautiful run around, unassisted. Kelly would grab the next draw control and, less than 20 seconds after the previous goal, Allen scored her first of the afternoon with MacKinney securing the assist that forced the UMass timeout. After a brief reprieve, MacKinney would grab her second goal of the first quarter with Allen dishing out the assist. A blocked shot by Basciano led to Allen scoring her second of the frame with Ho assisting.
SECOND QUARTER
Penn State struck fast to open the second frame with Kelly scoring her first of the afternoon from Ho. Allen secured her first half hat trick off another assist from MacKinney. Defense reigned supreme in the middle of the second stanza with neither team’s offense being able to get past the defense. After seven scoreless minutes, Ho would breakthrough and score her second goal. UMass would finally score its first goal of the contest late into the second quarter, but Radin was able to answer on Penn State’s next possession for a goal of her own.
THIRD QUARTER
The Minutewomen won the opening draw of the second half and scored the team’s second goal of the day after a Penn State turnover. UMass was able to make back-to-back goals with a six-minute differential in between. Allen broke up the small UMass run and snagged another goal for the freshman. Both teams went back and forth with goals thanks to a MacKinney goal and a Ho free-position goal.
FOURTH QUARTER
Radin’s second goal of the afternoon opened up the fourth with an assist from Ho. After a UMass goal, Salerno was able to score from the eight-meter with Allen following that up with her fifth goal of the afternoon. The Minutewomen would score two in a row and Wainman, assisted by Ho, would score the final goal of the day to lead Penn State to a victory, 17-9.
POSTGAME NOTES
- After two goals in her collegiate debut, Allen led both teams with five goals scored
- Ho’s four assists and seven total points were both a game-high and career-high
- This is Manning’s tenth double-digit save effort of her career
- MacKinney has now scored five or more points nine times in her career
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions are back in Holuba Hall on Sunday, February 15 at 11 a.m. to take on Bucknell for the team’s THON game.