UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – After dismantling the Oregon Ducks on Thursday, the No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-3, 3-2 Big Ten) stay at Panzer Stadium in University Park, Pa. to welcome the No. 4 Northwestern Wildcats (10-3, 4-1 Big Ten) on Sunday, April 12th at 11 a.m. The game against the Wildcats is the second of three straight games for Penn State in the friendly confines of Panzer Stadium.
LAST TIME OUT
Stellar performances from Kelly MacKinney, Delaney Radin and Rocquette Allen propelled the Nittany Lions past the Ducks on Thursday night, 19-9. The trio combined for 17 of Penn State’s 29 points on the night.
MacKinney, the reigning IWLCA and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, tallied her second consecutive seven-plus point game. The New Jersey-native netted four goals, with two coming from the eight meter, while dishing out a trio of assists while shooting 67%. Radin secured her second career hat trick and added a pair of assists to put her at 44 on the year, the second-most in a single season in program history. Allen, the five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree, tied her career-high with five goals to push past 50 points in her young career with a team-high 37 goals. Erika Ho notched back-to-back hat tricks while dishing out a helper to put her at four points. Payton Wainman and Emma Kelly each recorded a pair of goals while Kelly added an assist and dominated the draw circle with 15 victories in the circle, putting her at the century mark in her career.
Radin, a Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week in March, claimed the title of second-most assists in a single-season in Penn State history, surpassing Steph Lazo and Maggie McCormick who each had 43 in 2017 and 2015, respectively.
B1G TIME ACCOLADES
After the dismantling of Ohio State, a trio of Nittany Lions earned conference and national recognition in the form of weekly awards. The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and the Big Ten Conference announced on Tuesday afternoon that MacKinney was named the IWLCA and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. This was her second Big Ten weekly award of her career along with her first national weekly honor. The IWLCA accolade is the first time that Penn State has earned the IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week since Kristin O’Neill was named to the award after helping take down No. 1 Northwestern in 2024.
In addition to MacKinney, Sydney Manning earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Allen was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The award is Manning’s fourth Big Ten weekly accolade of her career, the first since 2024 when she was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
With her fifth accolade, Allen joins Madison Taylor, Izzy Scane, Megan Whittle, Madison Carter, Kali Hartshorn and Kristin O’Neill as the only Big Ten players to be named Freshman of the Week five or more times in a single season. All of them ended up winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
THE FRESHMAN PHENOM
In the game against the then-No. 3 and now No. 1 team in the country, Allen put on her best performance of the year. She netted five goals against what was the third-best scoring defense in the Big Ten while adding an assist. Against the formidable Maryland defense and the best goalkeeper in the nation, the freshman shot a spectacular 71.4% while being shadowed by the Terrapins’ top defender. Three of Allen’s five total goals, all three of which were unassisted, came in the last 20 minutes of the contest as the attacker was the driving force behind a ferocious comeback attempt by the Nittany Lions in the second half. Her five goal and six-point effort tied her career-high in both categories and was the most goals allowed and the second-most points against the Terrapins by any player this year.
In addition to her heroics, Allen scored what may be the goal of the year. During the fourth quarter comeback attempt, as she was falling with her back to the net, the freshman shot a no-look, behind the back goal for her fourth of the afternoon. The goal would eventually be featured as the number two play of the day on the SportsCenter Top 10.
Against a tough Ohio State defense, Allen netted a pair of goals to push her season total to 32, the second-highest by any Big Ten freshman and by any Penn State player. Her greatest contribution to the offense against the No. 25 Buckeyes was her ability to pass Penn State players open. Allen registered a career-high four assists on the afternoon with three of those contributing to Kelly MacKinney’s seven goal outing. The first assist by the freshman from Lone Tree, Colo., went to Delaney Radin in her seven-point game. The six points Allen tallied against the Buckeyes matched her effort against then-No. 3 Maryland last week and is the fourth time she has recorded six points during her freshman campaign. Her 37 goals lead the team and her 52 total points are the third-most by any Nittany Lion. Both marks are the most by any freshman in the Big Ten.
THE ASSIST QUEENS
In the most recent Tewaaraton Watch List additions, Radin was one of 13 players nationally to be named to the prestigious award’s watch list, joining Ho as the only other Penn State player on the list. Additionally, Radin was also recently named as an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-America Honorable Mention She also earned her first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor, her first collegiate accolade.
In her electric start to the 2026 season, Radin has already set new single-season career-high for goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, free position shots and free position goals that she’s had in a single-season. Her 44 assists on the year have more than doubled her career assist total and her career point total with 65 points this season. The New York attacker has the most assists in the Big Ten, the seventh-most in Division I, while securing the seventh-most points by any Big Ten player and just outside the top-25 points in the NCAA.
Radin had a historic game dishing out the ball against Colgate. The junior attacker led the offensive effort with an astounding nine points and tied the program record with eight assists, a record originally set by Marsha Florio against Princeton in 1985. Her eight assists tied the NCAA single-game-high this season with Allison Reilly of Army West Point and Alexis Morton of Richmond. Radin has the two-highest single-game assist totals in the Big Ten this season alongside the first game of the year against Richmond, in which she had six assists.
MacKinney has followed closely behind the Florida transfer and had a more balanced approach to her success this season with 55% of her 66 points, the most by any Nittany Lion, coming from goals while also setting a new single-season high in goals and points for herself. Even though she’s been able to cash in more than in years past, MacKinney still remains a passing threat and sees the field extremely well. The junior has set new personal single-game highs in goals, points and free position goals. Twice this season, against Colgate and in the team’s Big Ten opener at Southern California, MacKinney has tallied four goals and four assists in a single game. The New Jersey attacker has the seventh-most assists in Penn State history with 92 and joined the 100-point club against Bucknell.
The combination of Radin and MacKinney have been one of the best duos in the nation. Through 13 games, the duo has combined for 74 assists and 131 points, the most assists by any pairing in the country and one of the highest point totals, along with 57 goals.
THE CAGE REPORT
Manning has been on a tear recently as the Nittany Lions’ primary goalkeeper, recently surpassing 300 career saves after her performance against No. 6 Michigan. Against the Wolverines, Manning registered 11 saves and against No. 19 Princeton, she notched a career-high 15 saves. The 15 saves she recorded is tied for the fourth-most in the Big Ten this season and the most by any Nittany Lion since Ashley Bowan’s performance against Johns Hopkins in 2023.
Manning played lights out against No. 25 Ohio State and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for it. The Pennsylvanian goalie faced a career-high 39 shots against the Buckeyes and tallied 14 saves, a new career-best against a conference opponent. Her 14 saves were one of the most by Big Ten goalie during the week and had a 60.9% save percentage. Manning was excellent against free position attempts, being credited for a save and only allowing one past her on five opportunities. Additionally, the junior picked up a pair of ground balls in the effort.
As of April 9th, Manning checks in with the fifth-best save percentage in the country, second in the Big Ten. The junior Big Ten Player to Watch is second in the Big Ten in goals allowed per game and just outside the top-20 nationally while being ranked third in the conference in total saves and saves per game, respectively.
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