Kara Nealon Scores A Late Goal Giving Penn State Women’s Lacrosse The Win Over Towson

Story posted March 14, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Micheal Bolger

Following a 9-7 victory over Rutgers, Penn State entered a nail biting contest against the Towson Tigers that was action-packed all the way up to the final ticks of the game, with the Nittany Lions emerging victorious 13-12.

Meghan Murray kicked off the day for the Nittany Lions with a free-position goal. The Tigers immediately followed that up with three straight goals from Gabby Garrett, Milana Zizakovic and Blair Pearre.

After a back-and-forth middle of the first quarter, the Nittany Lions scored three straight goals to take a 6-5 lead headed into the second. Gretchen Gilmore would be responsible for two of three of those goals, ending the first quarter with a hat trick.

Following a high-scoring first quarter, both defensives would finally settle in and silence the offensive attacks. Penn State, however, was able to exploit the aggressiveness from Towson’s defense to extend its lead to 9-5.

Right before the half, Towson was able to erase the donut on the scoreboard to pull within three of Penn State. The Tigers struggled in the first half with 10 turnovers, eight fouls and only 11 shots taken compared to the Nittany Lions’ 24.

Entering the back half of the game, the Tigers flipped the script on the Nittany Lions and went on a four-goal run. Brooke Hoss and Gilmore were able to get on the board for Penn State to tie things at 11, but all the momentum was with Towson heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

Penn State committed six turnovers and three fouls in the third quarter while only being able to get three shots off compared to its 12 shots in each of the first and second quarters.

In the fourth and final quarter of play, Penn State went down a player in the opening minutes after a yellow card was pulled on Lauren Saltz. Towson was unable to capitalize during the man-up situation, but scored immediately after to take a 12-11 lead.

With only four minutes left to go in regulation, Brooke Barger took a beautiful pass from Murray to the back of the net to tie it back at 12. Then Regan Nealon found Kara Nealon for a last-second goal to secure the win, 13-12.

Kara Nealon recorded her sixth goal of the season and ended the day as a hero for the Nittany Lions. Penn State improves to 6-2 on the season and hits the road to take on Princeton on Saturday at noon.

Towson walks away with a 4-3 record and looks to bounce back against Drexel on Saturday at 4 p.m. Clarke and Zizakovic ended the day with hat tricks, most of which came in the first and third quarters.

Micheal Bolger is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mpb6233@psu.edu.