ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 19 Penn State Nittany Lions (12-7) fell in a tight battle to the No. 6-ranked Stanford Cardinal (16-4), 5-7, on Friday afternoon at UM Lacrosse Stadium in the NCAA Tournament.
KEY PERFORMANCES
- Maggie Driver – three ground balls, three caused turnovers
- Lauren Tinson - three ground balls, two caused turnovers
- Susannah O’Connell – three ground balls, two caused turnovers
- Sydney Manning – 12 saves, 63.2% save rate
- Emma Kelly – two goals
FIRST QUARTER | PSU 2 – Stanford 2
The Cardinal struck first after winning the opening draw. The Nittany Lions won the subsequent draw and were unable to score. The Penn State defense held strong on the next possession and Payton Wainman had an opportunity to score from the eight-meter but was unable to convert with the Cardinal saving. Kelly was able to secure the next draw and Erika Ho scored with Delaney Radin dishing out the assist. Stanford won the next draw but defenses held strong throughout the middle part of the quarter with nearly eight minutes of scoreless play. A foul on Kelly led to the senior converting a free position opportunity into her first goal of the contest. The quarter would end with the two teams tied at two each.
SECOND QUARTER | PSU 5 – Stanford 4
Penn State struck quickly on defense as O’Connell caused a turnover to open the frame. Radin scored with MacKinney on the assist shortly after on a jump shot in the middle of the eight-meter fan. Stanford would answer back with a score of their own, but Wainman would secure a woman-up goal from the free-position. The Cardinal would score again to enter the media timeout, and another defensive battle would ensue. Neither team would be able to score for the next five minutes. Kelly would be able to end the drought with a spectacular twizzler from just outside the crease to end the half with the Nittany Lions up one.
THIRD QUARTER | PSU 5 – Stanford 5
A defensive battle commenced throughout the frame. The Nittany Lions picked up eight ground balls to Stanford’s five while the Cardinal had four saves while Penn State’s defense had two. Stanford was able to score the tying goal early in the stanza, but neither team was able to score otherwise.
FOURTH QUARTER | PSU 5 – Stanford 7
The Cardinal continued to hold the Nittany Lions scoreless as Stanford scored a pair of goals early on. Manning had a trio of saves to keep Penn State in the game and the defense caused a turnover and secured three ground balls in the final frame effort. The Nittany Lions would eventually fall, 5-7.