Penn State men’s lacrosse outclassed in blowout loss against No. 1 Maryland
After losing three straight contests by one goal, Penn State was outmatched against No. 1 Maryland on Sunday night.
The Terrapins came into Happy Valley and took down the Nittany Lions 18-7 in the annual “Wear White Game.”
After last season when capacity was limited at Panzer Stadium, sophomore midfielder Mark Sickler was excited to play in his first “Wear White Game.”
“It's awesome. I can’t thank Panzemonium, parents and families enough for coming,” Sickler said. “The constant support is just overwhelming and we appreciate every second of it.”
As for the game, Maryland wasted little time to start the contest, as sophomore midfielder Jack Koras scored just two minutes in.
The black and red added to its lead just minutes later, with graduate student attacker Keegan Khan finding twine.
The Terrapins continued to pour it on in the first quarter, as senior midfielder Kyle Long scored two goals to extend the lead to four.
Penn State got on the scoreboard with 3:34 left in the quarter after freshman attacker Will Peden scored his seventh goal of the campaign.
The opening quarter ended with Maryland leading 4-1, but the blue and white looked to gain momentum after Peden’s goal.
Similar to the first quarter, Maryland opened the second with a goal coming from junior midfielder Jack Brennen.
Despite being behind by four, the Nittany Lions cut into the deficit just under five minutes into the quarter, after Sickler netted his 10th goal of the season.
Three minutes later, Peden tallied his second of the game, pulling Penn State within two goals.
Coach Jeff Tambroni was extremely impressed with the play of his freshman.
“We have a lot of freshmen playing for us but I thought Will Played with a lot of courage,” Tambroni said. “He’s fearless as a competitor and this is just the start of a great career for him.”
The blue and white had a lot of momentum after the two quick goals, but it was quickly erased after Maryland ended the half by scoring six unanswered goals.
In the final six and a half minutes of the half Khan added three more goals, tying a season-high of four goals in a game.
It wasn’t just Khan dominating in that stretch, Long recorded two more goals, joining the hat-trick club for the Terrapins.
The other goal was scored by junior FOGO Luke Wierman, just six seconds after Khan scored at the 6:25 mark.
During this stretch, Tambroni made the move to switch his goalies, pulling redshirt junior Aleric Fyock after allowing nine goals and making six saves.
Tambroni brought in freshman goalie Jack Fracyon to try and come back in the contest.
Tambroni didn’t blame his goalies or his defense for the loss on Sunday.
“They come at you from all different areas because they have six different guys that can beat you,” Tambroni said. “Tried to go back and forth a little bit from zone to man but I felt like they overwhelmed us a bit.”
Leading 11-3 after 30 minutes of play, Maryland kept its foot on the gas to start the third quarter.
Fifth-year attacker Logan Wisnauskas, tallied his team-leading 24th goal just 1:07 into the quarter.
Wisnauskas’s goal was followed by tallies from Koras, fifth-year midfielder Anthony DeMaio and graduate student midfielder Jonathan Donville.
The end of the quarter was marked by sophomore forward Eric Malever scoring three goals in a span of 4:36, pushing the Terrapin lead to 18-3.
The Nittany Lions scored four goals in the fourth quarter, with two coming from freshman attacker Nils Barry, but it wasn’t enough to come back.
Sickler knew coming into the contest against the top team in the nation, that it was going to be a battle all game long.
“Maryland, they got a pretty solid all-around team,” Sickler said. “We had some unlucky turnovers and possessions that probably could’ve helped our defense out”.
The blue and white are back in action on Friday, traveling to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Despite his team’s 2-7 record. Tambroni still wants his team to compete.
“These guys are doing a great job,” Tambroni said. “We’ve had a lot of things going on, guys are still getting healthy and I still think there’s a lot to play for.
Alex Rocco is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email afr5646@psu.edu
