Feb. 7, 2011
By Will Donley, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Defense was the theme of the day Saturday when the Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team met the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays met for a preseason scrimmage in Holuba Hall. When the final whistle blew, the Blue Jays boasted a win with an unofficial score of 7-4. In front of a sizeable crowd, both teams showcased their athletic midfields, strong defenses and capable goalies.
Penn State sophomore Danny Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) controlled the game's first face-off when he won the ball back to his classmate and high school teammate Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.). The Nittany Lions got off a barrage of shots during their first possession, but the offense was unable to beat the Johns Hopkins starting goaltender.
The Penn State defense then settled in for Johns Hopkins' first offensive possession in front of freshman goalie Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.). Kaut turned away the Blue Jay's first offensive flurry before a Johns Hopkins attackman got in behind the Penn State defense to score the game's first goal. The Blue Jays scored the game's next two goals to lead the Nittany Lions 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, junior attackman Matt Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) beat his man behind the net and fed sophomore Kyle Van Thof (Penfield, N.Y.) on the crease for the Nittany Lions' first goal of the game. The Blue Jays added another goal before Dolik took a Billy Lloyd (West Chester, Pa.) assist and scored on a right-handed shot from the perimeter to make the score 4-2 at halftime.
Despite generating plenty of quality shots in the second half, the Nittany Lions' offense only managed to score two goals. Freshman attackman Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.) scored off another Mackrides assist in the third quarter, and sophomore Drew Roper (Columbus, Ohio) drove hard to the net and scored an unassisted goal in the fourth quarter. Johns Hopkins scored three goals in the second half to make the game's final score 7-4.
Mackrides, who finished the scrimmage with two assists, led Penn State on offense. Kaut had a stellar game in net, stopping a variety of shots from the crease and from the perimeter. Henneghan displayed his consistency at the face-off by winning a majority of the game's draws.
As is his policy for all preseason and fall scrimmages, Johns Hopkins' head coach Dave Pietramala instructed his players to exchange jerseys so that the Penn State players and fans would be unable to determine the identity of each Blue Jay. Assumedly, this would also confuse any coaching staff that got their hands on the game film.
The Blue Jays were led by their strong goaltending, midfield depth and aggressive and physical defense throughout the entire scrimmage. In particular, the Johns Hopkins long stick midfielders demonstrated their take away abilities, jumpstarting the Blue Jay's transition offense for much of the game.
The Nittany Lions started seven freshman and sophomores on Saturday. Van Thof and Sturgis started on the attack. Henneghan, Dolik and freshman Steven Bogert (Carlsbad, Calif.) started at the midfield. Red-shirt freshman Tyler Travis (Geneva, N.Y.) and Kaut started on defense and in the goal, respectively.
Penn State will be in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Nittany Lions' final preseason scrimmage against Hobart.
Will Donley, Senior Attackman, Penn State Men's Lacrosse Team, GoPSUsports.com
