Maryland Dominates Penn State in 13-7 Blowout
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Panzer Stadium hosted a back-and-forth affair Friday night that saw the No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions lose to the No. 4 Maryland Terrapins 13-7.
Coming off a season-opening loss to Rutgers, Penn State sought to bounce back in this matchup of top-15 teams in the nation, but sloppy play crippled Penn State’s offense, ultimately leading to the loss.
Overall, Penn State racked up a staggering 23 turnovers whereas Maryland coughed up only 15, creating a sputtering offensive attack for Penn State. Maryland goalie Logan McNaney shut down most of Penn State’s scoring chances anyway with 16 saves on 23 shots on goal.
After the game, head coach Jeff Tamborini gave his thoughts on what the team has to do moving forward.
“I thought it was a very physical game, and those unforced errors are the ones that take the wind out of the sails,” Tambroni said. “There were far too many mistakes, and we have to play the way we practice.”
In the first period, the Nittany Lions came out aggressive, winning each of the six faceoffs and getting 12 shots off, but more importantly, they committed seven turnovers: just four fewer than their full-game total against the Scarlet Knights.
Inside the cage, Colby Kneese struggled to come up with stops as he allowed 13 goals, including four scores on five shots from Daniel Maltz and three goals on eight shots from Jared Bernhardt, a mark which put Bernhardt over 200 points in his career at Maryland.
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for Penn State. Nate Buller flicked an incredible bouncing goal behind his back while falling to the ground. If that play doesn’t make SportsCenter, there should be some serious re-evaluations.
On the scoreboard, the Nittany Lions fought hard from the opening faceoff even after getting outscored 4-1 in the third frame.
Penn State has been frequently changing up lineups and rotations due to COVID-19 protocols and other health issues, but Tambroni still believes his team can put it all together.
“I’m proud of how hard our guys played coming off a loss against Rutgers,” Tambroni said. “ The last thing you want is that loss to weigh on us during the week. We’re still trying to put some pieces together and create some chemistry on the field.”
That same sentiment has carried over in the locker room as well with graduate forward Gerard Aceri stating in the postgame press conference, “We had opportunities offensively. I thought our defense played pretty strong. We just have to capitalize on those opportunities.”
Starting off 0-2 for the first time under Tambroni, the team will look to bounce back against Ohio State in its next game; Maryland, meanwhile, will face Johns Hopkins in its next contest.
Matthew McLaughlin is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mem6936@psu.edu.
