UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 14, 2007 ¨C The Penn State Nittany Lion lacrosse team got off to a fast start against visiting St. John¡¯s and rode a strong first period to a 9-5 ECAC Lacrosse League win over the Red Storm. Penn State outscored SJU 3-0 in the opening stanza and never trailed in the game. Senior Brian Boyle (Derry, N.H.) had a goal and two assists to lead the Nittany Lions
Boyle put Penn State on the board first with an unassisted goal at the 7:06 mark after each team played an even five minutes to start the game. The Nittany Lions upped that lead to 2-0 when Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) took an assist from Brian Shea (Gaithersburg, Md.) at the 4:51 mark. After St. John¡¯s effectively killed a 1:00 penalty, Gil Pearsall (Carthage, N.Y.) gave Penn State a 3-0 lead with an unassisted even-up goal with just 0:48 left in the opening stanza.
St. John¡¯s cut into the Penn State lead early in the second period when Justin O¡¯Donnell took an assist from Tom Michaelsen at the 10:29 mark to cut the Nittany Lion lead to 3-1. The Red Storm inched closer with a man-up goal at the 5:22 mark. Trevor Michaelson scored with an assist from his brother, Tom. The familial goal made the score 3-2 in favor of Penn State.
Junior Andrew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) helped stem the Red Storm tide with an unassisted goal at the 4:27 mark. Mackrides raced the length of the field on a clear and bounced the ball past Red Storm goalie Dave Saccente to put Penn State up 4-2. Forster scored off an assist from Brian Boyle (Derry, N.H.) shortly thereafter, putting Penn State back up by three with 3:43 left in the first half. But St. John¡¯s would not trail by three at the break as Matt Viscusi scored as the second period clock expired to send the game into the halftime break with Penn State holding a 5-3 lead.
St. John¡¯s got within one goal quickly in the third period Graeme Gillespie took a Tom Manes assist and scored just 0:55 into the third period, cutting the Penn State lead to 5-4. Both defenses stiffened over the next ten minutes. But Penn State finished off a long possession with an unassisted goal from Pearsall with 4:50 left in the third period. The goal put Penn State up 6-4 with under five minutes to play in the third quarter. Gillespie and Manes connected once again, however, with a goal at the 1:10 mark to cut Penn State¡¯s lead to 6-5. The Nittany Lions, however, carried a 7-5 lead into the final quarter as Max VanArsdale (Rochester, N.Y.) took an assist from Boyle with just 0:01 left in the third quarter.
Leading by two to start the final quarter, Pat Heim (Wayne, Pa.) gave Penn State a larger cushion with an unassisted goal at the 13:10 mark, putting Penn State up 8-5. Bubba Scott (Rockville, Md.) helped ice the game with an unassisted goal with just 4:14 to play, giving the Nittany Lions a 9-5 lead with less than five minutes to play in the game. The Nittany Lions would maintain offensive possession for most of the final minutes and grabbed an impressive 9-5 win.
Penn State out shot St. John¡¯s 41-32, including a 21-19 edge in shots on goal. Nittany Lion goalie Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.) continued his stellar play in the net, collecting 14 saves to Dave Saccente¡¯s 12.
Penn State is now 4-5 on the year, 3-2 in the ECAC. St. John¡¯s falls to 4-7, 1-4 in the league. The Nittany Lions will visit No. 12 Bucknell on Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. game.
GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 9, St. John¡¯s 5
SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: PSU 7:06 (Boyle), PSU 4:51 (Forster, Shea), PSU 0:48 (Pearsall)
2nd: SJU 10:29 (O¡¯Donnell, To. Michaelson), SJU 5:22 (Tr. Michaelson, To. Michaelson), PSU 4:27 (Mackrides), PSU 3:43 (Forster, Boyle), SJU 0:01 (Viscusi, Tr. Michaelson)
3rd: SJU 14:05 (Gillespie, Manes), PSU 4:50 (Pearsall), SJU 1:10 (Gillespie, Manes), PSU 0:01 (VanArsdale, Boyle)
4th: PSU 13:10 (Heim), PSU 4:14 (Scott)
GROUNDBALLS: PSU 47, SJU 31 ¨C EMO: PSU 0-3, SJU 1-2
SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 41-21, SJU 32-19
FACE-OFFS: PSU 7-16, SJU 9-16
GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU (Drew Adams 60:00, 5 GA, 14 SV), SJU (Dave Saccente 60:00, 9 GA, 12 SV
SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F PENN STATE 3 2 2 2 9 ST. JOHN¡¯S 0 3 2 0 5
RECORDS: Penn State 4-5, 3-2 ECAC; St. John¡¯s 4-7, 1-4 ECAC
UP NEXT FOR PSU: Penn State visits Bucknell on Tuesday night for a 7:30 p.m. game.
