UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 3, 2007 ¨C Despite scoring the first four goals of the game, the Nittany Lion men¡¯s lacrosse team fell to the Loyola College Greyhounds 10-9 in their ECAC league opener. As both teams looked for their first win of the season, Loyola scored seven goals in the fourth quarter and two goals in the final 22 seconds to complete the comeback.
The Nittany Lions dominated play throughout the first quarter. Senior captain Pat Heim(Wayne, Pa.) scored on a pass from freshman Brian Shea (Gaithersburg, Md.) to give Penn State the early lead. Penn State senior Matt Radecic (Mission Hills, Kan.) expanded the lead, scoring on an unassisted goal just one minute later. Unassisted goals by freshman Chris Hogan (Wyckoff, N.J.) and Radecic put the Nittany Lions up 4-0 after the first quarter. The Greyhounds subbed in junior goalie Connor Locke, who finished the game for Loyola and recorded the win.
Loyola senior Dan Bauers scored the Greyhound¡¯s first goal on a pass from freshman Taylor Ebsary with 13:16 remaining in the half. Heim responded with an unassisted goal 1:52 later and put Penn State up 5-1. The second quarter consisted of tight defense and great goaltending, as both teams struggled to find the net throughout most of the quarter. Loyola senior Ryan Rabidou scored with 35 seconds remaining the quarter on a pass from junior Shane Koppens. Penn State¡¯s Heim scored just 18 seconds later and recorded his first hat trick of the season. Nittany Lion goalie, freshman Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.), recorded five saves in the quarter and 13 in the game. The Nittany Lions led 6-2 at the half.
Much like the previous quarter, both teams were held scoreless until the final minutes of the third quarter. Penn State freshman Andrew Stimmel (Murrysville, Pa.) scored on a pass from Radecic with 2:20 remaining the quarter. Loyola¡¯s Andrew Spack netted a goal in the waning seconds of the quarter to cut the lead to 7-3.
Loyola¡¯s man-down unit played spectacularly in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds scored two quick shorthanded goals to cut the lead to 7-5; Rabidou scored on a pass from junior Paul Richards with 14:15 remaining in the game, and Koppens scored 17 seconds later ¨C also on a pass from Richards. Penn State sophomore Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) netted his second goal of the season with 11:51 remaining. Loyola¡¯s Rabidou scored an unassisted goal a minute later ¨C his third goal of the game. Greyhound goals by Bauers and Richards tied the game at 8-8. Penn State senior Gil Pearsall (Carthage, N.Y.) scored with 3:40 remaining to give the Nittany Lions the 9-8 lead. Bauers scored his third goal of the game on a pass from Koppens with 22 seconds left and tied the game. Koppens netted the game-winner on a pass from Rabidou with four seconds remaining.
Penn State fell to 0-3 on the year, 0-1 in the ECAC while the Greyhounds improved to 1-2, 1-0 in the ECAC. The Nittany Lions host Ohio State next Saturday, March 10 in a non-conference matchup at 1 p.m. in Holuba Hall.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 9, Loyola 10 SCORING (Goal-Assist): 1st: 11:23 PSU (Heim-Shea), 10:22 PSU (Radecic), 8:34 PSU (Hogan), 4:42 PSU (Radecic) 2nd: 13:16 LC (Bauers-Ebsary), 11:24 PSU (Heim), 0:35 LC (Rabidou-Koppens), 0:17 PSU (Heim) 3rd: 2:20 PSU (Stimmel-Radecic), 0:35 LC (Spack) 4th: 14:15 LC (Rabidou-Richards), 13:58 LC (Koppens-Richards), 11:51 PSU (Forster), 10:37 LC (Rabidou), 7:29 LC (Bauers-Koppens), 6:16 LC (Richards-Bauers), 3:40 PSU (Pearsall), 0:22 LC (Bauers-Koppens), 0:04 LC (Koppens-Rabidou) GROUNDBALLS: PSU 31, LC 46 ¨C EMO: PSU 0-1, LC 0-3 SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 19-15, LC 35-23 FACE-OFFS: PSU 7-23, LC 16-23 GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU (Drew Adams 60:00, 10 GA, 13 SV), LC (Connor Locke 49:07, 4 SV, 5 GA; Alex Peaty 10:53, 2 SV, 4 GA) SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F PENN STATE 4 2 1 2 9 LOYOLA 0 2 1 7 10 RECORDS: Penn State 0-3, 0-1 ECAC, Loyola 1-2, 1-0 ECAC
UP NEXT FOR PSU: Penn State vs. Ohio State, Saturday, March 10, 1 p.m.
