Annapolis, Md., March 27, 2005 - The second-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team fell to No. 5 North Carolina, 13-7, Sunday afternoon in Annapolis, Md., to complete action in the ACC-ALC Challenge. The Nittany Lions fall to 6-3 while the Tarheels improve to 8-2.
Penn State was led by junior Shari Maslin (New City, N.Y.) and freshman Jessi Lieb (Villanova, Pa.) with two goals apiece while seniors Emily Chambers (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) and Kristen Burke (Severna Park, Md.) and sophomore Lindsay Dutch (Ellicott City, Md.) each recorded one goal. Burke, Chambers, Maslin and sophomore Karen Long (Ellicott City, Md.) all tallied one assist.
Dutch, Lieb and senior Kate Townsend (Collingswood, N.J.) all collected two ground balls for the Nittany Lions while Lieb led the squad with five ground balls.
Senior goalkeeper Lee Tortorelli (Havertown, Pa.) allowed 11 goals in 55:44 minutes of play, facing 26 shots and making six saves. Redshirt freshman Cammie Jurkowsky (Annapolis, Md.) was in goal for 4:16, allowing two goals on five shots with no saves.
For North Carolina, Jess Allen scored a game-high five goals as Erica LaGrow added three scores, Christina Juras and Stephanie Scurachio each posted two and Katie Brooks chipped in one goal. Juras, Scurachio, Gina Allen and Allison Higgins all recorded one assist.
Juras and Jenn Cook both collected a team-high three draw controls as Kristen Hordy topped the squad with five ground balls. Hordy played 60 minutes in goal, facing 25 shots and allowing seven goals with 13 saves.
Each team collected 11 draw controls and 24 ground balls, as Penn State connected on two of its five free position shots and North Carolina was successful on one of its two. The Tarheels fired 31 shots to the Nittany Lions' 25.
UNC's Allen got the Tarheels on the board less than four minutes into the contest, putting away a shot off a pass from Allison Higgins. Dutch answered back for the Nittany Lions at the 24:52 mark to knot the game at 1-1. Over the next three minutes, North Carolina scored goals from LaGrow, Juras and Brooks to take the 4-1 lead with 21:03 remaining in the half. But a Maslin free position goal sparked a 3-0 Penn State run, aided also by another goal from Maslin and one from Chambers, to tie the game at 4-4 with 12:36 left in the half. A Tarheel goal from Juras at the 8:47 mark was followed two minutes later by another goal from Allen and a score from Scurachio, completing a three-goal North Carolina run to put it up 7-4 heading into halftime.
Out of the break, a Lieb score off a pass from Burke trimmed the Tarheel lead to two at 7-5. Following another North Carolina goal from LaGrow at 23:55, Penn State goals from Lieb and Burke cut the Tarheel lead to one at 8-7 with 18:40 remaining in the game. But North Carolina caught fire, with a score from Allen at the 17:28 mark sparking a five-goal Tarheel run. Aided by two more tallies by Allen and one each from LaGrow and Scurachio, North Carolina ended the game with the 13-7 advantage.
Penn State remains on the road, traveling to No. 17 Loyola on April 2 at 1:00 p.m.
For more information on the Penn State women's lacrosse team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.
