Live Stats • Game Notes • ESPN+ • Feb. 28th, 3 p.m. • Ithaca, N.Y. at Schoellkopf Field
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0) will head north to take on the No. 25 Cornell Big Red (2-1) on Saturday, February 28th at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field. The meeting is the 20th between the two programs and is the second ranked match up the Nittany Lions have taken part in this season.
With the arrival of new Head Coach Kayla Treanor and staff, the Nittany Lions have been revitalized with the team’s first 5-0 start since 2017. As of February 24th, the Penn State offense ranks inside the top-15 nationally in assists per game (11th), free position percentage (12th), points per game (12th) and shot percentage (15th). The Nittany Lions are also ranked top-three offensively in the Big Ten in assists per game (third), free position percentage (first), points per game (third), scoring offense (third), shot percentage (first), shots per game (third) and shots on goal per game (second).
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State dominated Drexel to the tune of 16-3. The Nittany Lions shut out the Dragons in the first half of play, the first time that Penn State has done so against any opponent since playing Ohio State in 2023. The win also broke a two-game losing streak that the Blue and White had against Drexel. The defense dominated the game, not allowing a single shot in the first quarter and only allowing three goals, the least allowed since the game against the Buckeyes in 2023. Maggie Driver and Cailin Hetrick led the defensive effort with a trio of ground balls each, while Driver, Susannah O’Connell and Julia Basciano each caused a pair of turnovers. Lauren Tinson, one of the four team captains, and O’Connell also each contributed a pair of ground balls a piece. Sydney Manning was perfect in the cage, saving four and securing the first half shutout Arden Jansen recorded a trio of saves during her time in the second half.
The Penn State offense exploded out to a 13-0 lead midway into the third quarter. The 13-straight goals is the largest run by Penn State this year. Payton Wainman led the way for the offense, scoring five goals, tied for the most goals scored by any Penn State player so far this year, and securing an assist. Delaney Radin netted a pair of goals and a pair of assists with freshman Lizzie Anné scoring her first two collegiate goals in the win alongside Anna Salerno. Emma Kelly, Ella Wisch, Maddie Greco, Kelly MacKinney and Rocquette Allen all added a goal as well in the win. Kelly, as the primary draw taker for the Nittany Lions, recorded her second effort with double-digit draw controls as Penn State doubled the amount of draw wins that Drexel had.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
The Big Ten Conference office announced on Tuesday afternoon that Allen was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. Allen is the first Penn State women’s lacrosse player this season to earn a Big Ten Weekly Award and the first freshman to earn the award since Brooke Long was selected in April of last year.
In the two games against then-No. 20 Pitt and Drexel, with the primary defender on her, she totaled three goals, four assists and seven points. Allen scored twice against No. 20 Pitt, including the golden goal. Against Drexel, she dished out a game and career-high three assists and netted a goal to help snap a two-game losing streak against the Dragons. The Mountain Vista product is in the top-20 nationally with 15 total goals, third in the Big Ten, while averaging the sixth in goals per game in the conference.
Allen has scored a team-high 15 goals so far this year, the most by any Power Conference freshman in the country, and another team-high 21 points, the second most by any Power Conference freshman.
OUR STATE
In the three regular season games against Pennsylvania opponents (Bucknell, Pitt and Drexel), the Nittany Lions showed that they own the Keystone State. The Nittany Lion defense allowed, on average, only seven points in each contest while winning by a margin of nearly nine goals on average. The offense tallied 49 total goals against Pennsylvanian competition for above 16 goals per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Cornell Big Red, after defeating then-No. 22 James Madison in its home opener, has entered the national rankings, landing at No. 25. Ellie Bergin leads the Big Red offense with seven goals and an assist for a team-high eight points while Holly Newman’s six assists are a Cornell-high. Caitlin Tully’s seven ground balls and eight caused turnovers are both team-highs and she shares the draw control lead with Addy Smith, both winning seven on the young season. Mackenzie Clark is the primary woman in cage for the Big Red, recording 11 saves on 44 shots faced for a 39.3% save rate and allowing 17 goals, 6.62 on average. Jenny Graap leads the Big Red alongside assistant coaches Sarah Burlingame, Riley VanHoltz and Ashley O’Brien.
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women's lacrosse. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team on Facebook at /pennstatewomenslacrosse as well as Twitter and Instagram @PennStateWLAX.