Penn State Women’s Lacrosse Drops Thriller to Princeton
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State fell 12-11 against No. 11 Princeton at Panzer Stadium on Saturday.
The loss brought Penn State to 5-3, while Princeton climbed to 6-0. The matchup was a thriller, with both teams exchanging leads and goals throughout the game. Ultimately, though, both teams played a solid game in a Princeton victory.
“I thought it was a great game. This is why we train and this is why we play,” Penn State coach Missy Doherty said.
Doherty wasn’t the only one who felt good about the game despite the result.
“It was a very good game overall,” junior midfielder Meghan Murray, who tallied three goals in the loss, said.
Princeton opened up the scoring at 11:41 in the first quarter with a goal from attacker Grace Tauckus. Penn State quickly tied the game, with Brooke Hoss scoring her 12th goal of the season.
Princeton continued to dominate the first quarter, scoring two more goals and taking its fair share of shots against goalkeeper Ashley Bowan. Bowan, though, put up a solid fight despite a talented Princeton attack, with six saves in the opening quarter. It ended 3-1 in favor of the Tigers.
The second quarter started similarly to the first. Princeton had multiple chances, eventually finding the back of the net at 13:42. Soon after, however, Meghan Murray sniped a shot from up close, which made the score 4-2 in favor of Princeton at 12:58 in the second quarter.
That was only the beginning, though. The rest of the quarter was filled with scoring, as both teams combined for a total of eight goals in the sequence. After Murray’s goal, Princeton scored three unanswered goals in impressive fashion, one of which caught Bowan off guard as she was not in front of the net.
The Nittany Lions rallied to score three unanswered goals toward the end of the quarter, including an impressive backhand shot by Kara Nealon with a mere second remaining. The quarter ended 7-5 in favor of Princeton.
Penn State had seized momentum and continued to play with it in the second half.
The Nittany Lions opened the third quarter by scoring two goals and tying the game. The sequence of events prompted Princeton to call a timeout.
That timeout failed to accomplish much of anything for Princeton. Penn State took the lead at 10:09 in the third quarter, with Brooke Hoss scoring her second goal of the game.
However, Princeton would not go down quietly, tying the game at eight a piece. Though Penn State clearly had momentum on its side, Princeton’s skilled attack evened the game out. Then, at 8:34 in the third quarter, Princeton regained a 9-8 lead.
Ultimately, Princeton came out on top in a thrilling third quarter with an 11-9 lead.
The fourth quarter proved to be very exciting in terms of comebacks. Penn State wouldn’t go down without swinging, and scored two goals to tie the game.
With the game tied at 11 with 32 seconds left, Princeton took the lead. Sophie Whiteway snapped a shot from in the crease and past Bowan, making the score 12-11.
But then, Penn State went on the player-up advantage and a free position. Penn State fired a shot, but it ultimately went wide. The game ended 12-11, as Princeton held on to beat Penn State.
Murray mentioned the little things playing a part in the final result.
“I think that little things throughout the game added up; we had a couple of turnovers that were unforced and then a couple mistakes on defense,” Murray said.
Despite the loss, Murray felt more confident moving forward into Penn State’s Big Ten schedule, which is set to kick off next Saturday at Ohio State.
“I think that this was a really good test and it gave us a lot of confidence because every game is a battle, and every team is good,” Murray said. “There are no bad teams in the Big Ten.”
Nolan Wick is a first-year student majoring in journalism. To contact him, email nhw5046@psu.edu.
