COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 28, 2003 - The Penn State women's lacrosse team fell just short of upsetting second-ranked Maryland, falling 11-10 Friday night in Columbus, Ohio, in the first game of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Nittany Lions even their record at 4-4 while the Terrapins improve to 9-0.

Senior Colleen O'Hara (Ardmore, Pa.) scored three goals for Penn State while freshman Shari Maslin (New City, N.Y.) and junior Jamie Donahue (Oreland, Pa.) each posted two goals. O'Hara also recorded a team-high three assists while sophomore Emily Chambers (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) added one.

Penn State opened the game by taking a 3-0 lead on goals by Maslin at 7:37, junior Katie Jeschke (Ellicott City, Md.) at 9:11 and Donahue at 12:22. But Maryland responded with three goals to tie the game. Two more Terrapin scores pushed the score to 5-3 before a goal by sophomore Kristen Burke (Severna Park, Md.) cut the score to 5-4 at 26:09. Maryland answered with back-to-back goals to take the 7-4 lead before Maslin tallied another goal to pull Penn State to within two at 7-5 going into halftime.

The second half opened with goals by O'Hara and senior Kristin Wood (Wilton, Conn.) to tie the game at seven. The teams traded goals, with O'Hara evening the score at 8-8 with a goal at the 42:36 mark. An O'Hara free position goal put the Lions up 9-8 but a Maryland goal at 46:35 tied the game at 9-9 before a free position goal put the Terrapins up one, 10-9. Maryland's Kelly Coppedge scored her third goal of the evening to put the Terrapins up 11-9 with less than eight minutes remaining. Penn State closed to within one at 11-10 at 54:15 with a free position goal by Donahue as the final goal of the game.

Sophomore goalkeeper Lee Tortorelli (Havertown, Pa.) recorded 12 saves for the Lions while Maryland's Alexis Venechanos also recorded 12 saves.

Penn State remains in Columbus, Ohio, to face ninth-ranked North Carolina on Sunday, March 30 at noon.The Tar Heels were upset by 16th-ranked Ohio State, 10-8, in the second game on Friday. The Buckeyes will face Maryland at 2:00 p.m. in the final game of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

Please visit Penn State's official athletics website, www.GoPSUsports.com for more information on the Penn State women's lacrosse team.