STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - April 26, 2003 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team (6-6, 3-2 ECAC) held the Virginia Cavaliers (10-2, 2-1 ACC) to two goals in the second half but it was not enough to make up a one goal deficit as the Cavaliers defeated Penn State 11-10. Sophomore John Eremus (Rosemont, Pa./The Haverford School) led the Lions in scoring with three goals and two assists.
Virginia brought a 10-9 lead into the final 15 minutes of play. Each team scored one goal in the quarter as Penn State could not make up the one goal Cavalier difference. Sophomore Mike Jacober (Providence, R.I./Moses Brown School) tallied the Penn State goal at the 4:39 mark.
The Lions posted four extra-man goals in the match, two of which came in the third quarter as Penn State outscored Virginia 4-1. Eremus and freshman Chris Gannet (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) scored the extra-man goals while sophomores Will Cutler (Vienna, Va./St. Johns College) and Marc Young (Devon, Pa./The Haverford School) notched goals in the quarter to cut the Cavalier lead to 10-9.
The offense exploded for both sides in the second quarter as the teams combined to score nine goals. Eremus scored the first two goals of the game for the Lions followed by two straight goals from freshman Nate Whitaker (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Jefferson). Cutler scored and unassisted goal late in the quarter with 46 seconds left to cut Virginia's lead to 9-5 at halftime. Senior Luke Ogelsby (Bryn Mawr, Pa./The Haverford School) notched two assists in the quarter as he finished with three on the day.
The Cavaliers dominated Penn State in the first quarter jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Virginia out shot the Lions 15-4 and collected seven more ground balls in the first 15 minutes. Senior goal keeper Chris Garrity (St. Mary's/Annapolis, Md.) made six saves in the quarter as he finished with 20 on the day.
Penn State will finish its regular season against when they host the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, May 3 at 2:30 p.m. The Lions are 3-4 in non-conference play this season.
