LOS ANGELES – The No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) became the third team in collegiate women’s lacrosse history to hit 600 program wins after a dominating performance in its Big Ten opener over the University of Southern California (6-3, 0-1 Big Ten), 19-8. The Blue and White move to 2-0 over the Trojans in the all-time series.
The offense was led by the trio of Delaney Radin, Kelly MacKinney and Payton Wainman. Radin, the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, netted her first career hat trick while dishing out five assists to tie for a game-high eight points. MacKinney was able to match Radin’s point total off four assists and tied a game-high four goals alongside Wainman. Erika Ho and Rocquette Allen were both able to add three points. The senior, Ho, having two goals and an assists and Allen, in her first taste of Big Ten competition, netted a goal and a pair of assists. Six other Nittany Lions scored a goal and 12 of Penn State’s 19 goals came off an assist.
Defensively, the Blue and White were led by seniors Lauren Tinson and Maggie Driver. Tinson tied her career-highs with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, each the most that she’s ever had in Big Ten play. Driver tied her career-highs in caused turnovers with three and draw controls by winning a pair while also picking up a trio of ground balls. The 12 turnovers caused by the Penn State defense is the second-most recorded by the Nittany Lions this season. In the cage, Sydney Manning registered eight saves and collected a 50% save rate for the fifth time this season while scooping up a pair of ground balls.
Emma Kelly and the Penn State draw unit had another great game in the circle. Kelly’s eight draw controls won were a game-high and the 18 secured as a team is the third-highest mark by the Blue and White this season.
KEY PERFORMANCES
- Kelly MacKinney – four goals, four assists, eight points
- Delaney Radin – three goals, five assists, eight points
- Payton Wainman – four goals
- Lauren Tinson – three ground balls, two caused turnovers
- Maggie Driver – three ground balls, three caused turnovers, two draw controls
- Sydney Manning – two ground balls, eight saves, 50% save rate
FIRST QUARTER
The Nittany Lions struck first in the Big Ten contest. After winning the opening draw and forcing a pair of Trojan turnovers, Ho was able to net the first goal of the night from the eight-meter. After winning the next draw control and another turnover by USC, the Nittany Lions were able to strike again from the free-position with MacKinney converting the attempt into a goal the second go-around. The Trojans would answer off a miscue, but Kelly, on a woman-up situation and assisted by Radin, scored her first less than a minute later. USC scored again after an initial save by Manning, to diminish the Penn State lead to one. Wainman registered her first goal of the night a minute later with Allen assisting and the pair struck again with Wainman grabbing the goal and Allen securing the assist less than a minute later to close out the frame.
SECOND QUARTER
The second stanza started with the Nittany Lions’ defense smothering the Trojan offense to force a clock violation. After a yellow card on USC, Wainman was able to record her third goal of the night from the eight-meter, the third free-position goal by Penn State on the contest. The Nittany Lions struck quickly again on another woman-up situation with Salerno cashing in with help from Radin. The Blue and White run ended at four goals as the game turned into a back-and-forth affair. The Trojans were able to break their scoring drought, but Ho was able to secure her second goal of the evening with Radin collecting her third assist less than 30 seconds later. A minute after, USC was able to put pressure back on Penn State with a transition score, but Wainman scored her fourth of the day with another Radin assist. The Nittany Lions found themselves at the free-position line yet again and MacKinney converted for her 16th goal of the season. Radin, wanting to join the scoring party, would score the final two goals of the half with the first being assisted by MacKinney and the second by Ho.
THIRD QUARTER
Penn State started out the second half by capping off the scoring run at five goals with Maddie Greco securing her eighth in the back of the cage of the season. USC scored off a Penn State turnover, but a minute later at the free position line Radin secured her first career hat trick. Allen, the reigning freshman of the week, notched her first Big Ten goal with an assist from MacKinney who would then score with another assist by Radin. USC put together its first back-to-back goals of the game but another free position goal from MacKinney closed out the third stanza.
FOURTH QUARTER
Ellie Wisch opened the final frame with a quick draw-to-goal sequence that took less than 30 seconds. Lizzie Anné, less than two minutes later, scored her first goal in Big Ten play. Defenses would reign supreme in the final moments of the game as Penn State secured its 600th program victory.
POSTGAME NOTES
- With the win, Penn State became the third team in NCAA women’s lacrosse history to win 600 or more games alongside Maryland and Loyola University Maryland.
- With the win, the 2026 version of Penn State women’s lacrosse has the largest unblemished streak to start a season in program history since 1989, when the Nittany Lions started out 12-0.
- The 12 assists recorded by Penn State is the second-most in a game by the team this season with 63.2% of the Nittany Lons’ goals coming off an assist.
- After MacKinney’s second assist pushed her past 20 on the season, the pairing of her and Radin became the first instance of multiple players having 20 or more assists in a season for the Nittany Lions since 2016.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions return home to take on the No. 19/22 Princeton Tigers on Sunday, March 15th at 12 p.m. Admission is free and the venue will be announced on social media soon.