UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April, 17 2004 -The Penn State men's lacrosse team (4-5, 0-2) got back on the winning track today as they defeated Mt. Saint Mary's (3-7, 3-3) 17-6 in Emmitsburg, Md. Sophomore attackman Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.) tallied three goals and one assist while junior Will Cutler (Vienna, Va.) finished the game with four assists. The Lions tallied the first goal of the game when freshman Patrick Heim (Wayne, Pa.) scored an unassisted goal at the 10:05 mark. The Mount responded with three straight goals including two extra-man tallies from Jason Werner and Matt Warner to help their team lead at the end of the first quarter 3-1. Despite the first quarter deficit the Nittany Lions still managed to outshoot Mt. Saint Mary's 15-9.

The second quarter was all Penn State as the Lions outscored The Mount 7-1 in the quarter. Whitaker scored two straight goals in the first two minutes while Heim scored his second goal of the game at the 7:44 mark. Senior captain Brian Mabry (Orchard Park, N.Y.) notched his first goal of the season on an assist from Edmond Perry (Port Washington, N.Y.) to finish the four consecutive goal rally from the Lions. Penn State also saw goals from juniors Jesse Tarr (Media, Pa.) and Will Jones (Annapolis, Md.) and senior Greg Hale (Pittsford, N.Y.) in the last 3:30 of the quarter to take an 8-4 lead at halftime.

Penn State continue its strong play from the first half as they shutout Mt. Saint Mary's in the third quarter 4-0. Whitaker scored his third goal of the game at the 12:57 mark to give the Lions a 9-4 advantage. Sophomore John Eremus (Rosemont, Pa.) contributed with two straight goals in 14 seconds to give Penn State a seven-goal lead and senior Charlie Perry (Port Washington, N.Y.) picked up his first assist of the year on Eremus's first goal. Freshman midfielder Matt Radecic (Kansas City, Mo.) rounded out the scoring in the third quarter when he tallied his first goal of the season on an assist from senior captain defenseman Matt O'Malley (Hunt Valley, Md.). The Mount opened the final quarter with two goals to cut the Nittany Lion lead to 12-6. Tilghman Herring notched his lone goal of the game while Jay Duffy scored his second goal of the game one minute later as he finished with five points. The Lions responded with a goal from Derek Howells (Niskayuna, N.Y.) 50 seconds later while sophomore Kevin Hershner (Bel Air, Md.) notched his first goal of the year on an assist from Cutler. Radecic was able to find the back of the net one more time in the game at the 6:54 mark and freshman Adam Kenney (Royal Oak, Mich.) scored his first goal of the season with four seconds remaining in the game to clinch the 16-7 victory. Junior goalkeeper Josh LaGrow (Skaneateles, N.Y.) played 45:00 minutes and made five saves while senior Mike Stoltz (Parkton, Md.) saw 15:00 minutes finishing with three saves. Mt. Saint Mary's goal keeper Dan Whitehurst played the majority of the game gathering 14 saves.

Penn State will return home to take on Bucknell on Tuesday, Apr. 20 at 7:30 p.m. The Lions will then host Rutgers in their final ECAC match of the year on Saturday, Apr. 24 at 12:00 p.m.

GOAL - (ASSISTS): PSU 1st quarter-Patrick Heim; 2nd quarter-Nate Whitaker - (Will Cutler), Nate Whitaker - (John Eremus), Patrick Heim, Brian Mabry - (Edmond Perry), Jesse Tarr - (Mike Bailey), Greg Hale - (Nate Whitaker), Will Jones - (Will Cutler); 3rd quarter-Nate Whitaker, John Eremus - (Charlie Perry), John Eremus, Matt Radecic - (Matt O'Malley) 4th quarter-Derek Howells - (Greg Gurenlian), Kevin Hershner - (Will Cutler), Matt Radecic - (Adam Kenney), Adam Kenney - (Will Cutler). MSM 1st quarter-Jason Werner - (Jay Duffy), Matt Warner - (Jay Duffy), Jay Duffy - (Pat Beall); 2nd quarter-Billy Jautze; 3rd quarter-no scoring; 4th quarter-Tilghman Herring - (Jay Duffy), Jay Duffy, Eric Seifert.

SAVES: PSU, Josh LaGrow (45:00 minutes, 4 goals allowed, 5 saves), Mike Stoltz (15:00 minutes, 3 goals allowed, 3 saves)

MSM: Dan Whitehurst (55:27 minutes, 15 goals allowed, 14 saves), Chris Channing (4:33, 1 goal allowed, 1 save)

GROUNDBALLS: PSU, 45: MSM, 24

EMO: PSU, 0-1: MSM, 2-6