WASHINGTON, D.C.; May 5, 2007 ¨C The Penn State Nittany Lion lacrosse team, under the guidance of veteran head coach Glenn Thiel, closed out its 2007 season with a hard-fought 9-4 loss at No. 4 Georgetown. The Hoyas broke open a close game after one period with a solid second quarter to post the win.

Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) led Penn State with two goals in the game while Brian Boyle (Derry, N.H.) had two assists. Georgetown was led by the strong play of goalie Miles Kass, who had 13 saves against 17 shots on goal.

The goalies dominated the early going of the game, with each keeper posting impressive saves to keep things scoreless through the first half of period one. Nittany Lion keeper Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.) had two stellar saves in the early going to keep Penn State close while the Lion offense looked for an opening in the strong Hoya defense. Georgetown keeper Kass also had a couple early saves, keeping Penn State from taking an early lead.

Georgetown snapped the scoreless tie with an unassisted goal at the 4:29 mark from Scott Kocis. But Penn State answered right back Forster took an assist from Boyle with 3:01 left in the first to tie the game at 1-1. Just over a minute later, the duo turned the trick again with a near identical Boyle pass from behind the goal leading to a short Forster shot, putting Penn State up 2-1 with 1:54 remaining. But the lead was short-lived as GU¡¯s Craig Dowd scored unassisted at the 0:51 mark, tying things up at 2-2 heading into the second stanza. Brandon Cammeron scored on a long shot, off a Jake Samperton assist, to give Georgetown a 4-2 lead with 8:56 left in the second period.

After a tight first period, Georgetown found its offensive groove a bit more in the second period and, while goalie Kass shut Penn State down, opened up a three-goal lead. Dodd scored the first goal of the second period at the 11:58 mark, taking an assist from Andrew Baird and putting the Hoyas up 3-2. Trevor Casey helped give Georgetown a 5-2 lead at the break with an unassisted goal with just 0:21 left in the half, sending Penn State to the locker room facing a three-goal deficit. GE Out shot Penn State 23-18 in the first half and owned a 12-6 edge in shots on goal. Adams had seven saves for Penn State while Kass had four for the Hoyas.

Senior Pat Heim (Wayne, Pa.) cut into the Hoya lead early in the third period with a driving unassisted goal at the 11:10 mark, pulling Penn State to within two, 5-3. But Georgetown answered with a man-up goal with 5:58 left in the third, getting a score from Brendan Cannon to go up 6-3. The Hoyas would carry that lead into the fourth period.

Like the third period, Penn State got the opening goal in the fourth. Freshman Chris Hogan (Wyckoff, N.J.) took a crossing pass from Max VanArsdale (Rochester, N.Y.) to find the net, pulling Penn State to within two, 6-4, with 12:52 left in the game. But once again, Georgetown answered quickly with a fast break goal at the 11:39 mark, with Baird scoring off a Clayton Hall assist. GU then tacked on a goal using a man-up advantage at 3:59. Dowd scored off an assist from Chase Gahan to give the Hoyas an 8-4 lead. Cannon added another Hoya goal with an assist from Dowd at 2:35 and Georgetown was up five, 9-4, and the homestanding Hoyas would carry that lead until the end of the game.

The Nittany Lions end the 2007 season with a 5-8 record, 3-4 in the ECAC. Georgetown is now 11-2 overall and champions of the ECAC with a 7-0 mark. The Hoyas will now move on to the NCAA Championship Tournament. The bracket will be announced Sunday evening at 9:15 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY: Penn State 4, Georgetown 9

SCORING (Goal-Assist):
1st: GU 4:29 (Kocis), PSU 3:01 (Forster, Boyle), PSU 1:54 (Forster, Boyle), GU 0:51 (Dowd)
2nd: GU 11:58 (Dowd, Baird), GU 8:56 (Cammeron, Samperton)
3rd: PSU 11:10 (Heim), GU 5:58 (Cannon, Dowd)
4th: PSU 12:52 (Hogan, VanArsdale), GU 11:39 (Baird, Hall), GU 3:59 (Dowd, Gahan), GU 2:35 (Cannon, Dowd)

GROUNDBALLS: PSU 36, GU 31

EMO: PSU 0-3, GU 2-6

SHOTS (SH-SOG): PSU 40-17, GU 41-19

FACE-OFFS: PSU 8-17, GU 9-17

GOALIE SUMMARY: PSU (Drew Adams 60:00, 9 GA, 10 SV), GU (Miles Kass 58:52, 4 GA, 13 SV; Jack Davis 1:08, 0 GA, 0 SV)

SCORE BY QUARTERS: 1 2 3 4 F PENN STATE 2 0 1 1 4 GEORGETOWN 2 3 1 3 9 

RECORDS: Penn State 5-8, 3-4 ECAC; Georgetown 11-2, 7-0