COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 30, 2003 - After a near-upset of second-ranked Maryland on Friday, the 11th-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team overcame 33 degree temperatures and below-freezing wind chills to knock off ninth-ranked North Carolina, 9-7, Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, to close out the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Nittany Lions improve to 5-4 while the Tar Heels fall to 4-6.
Sophomore Emily Chambers (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) scored two goals, including the game-winner, while sophomore Kristen Burke (Severna Park, Md.) also recorded two goals.
Penn State opened action by scoring the first three goals of the game. Senior Colleen O'Hara (Ardmore, Pa.) recorded the first tally at the 7:06 mark with Chambers recording her first goal off a pass from junior Katie Hartman (Annapolis, Md.) less than four minutes later. Junior Katie Jeschke (Ellicott City, Md.) put Penn State up 3-0 with a goal at the 13:46 mark before North Carolina responded with three unanswered goals to tie the game at 3-3. Burke connected on a pass from Chambers to break the stalemate and junior Stephanie Curnoles (Baltimore, Md.) put Penn State up 5-3 at the 21:18 mark. The Tar Heels added one more goal before the half ended with the Nittany Lions leading, 5-4.
Penn State began the second half on another three-goal scoring run. Freshman Shari Maslin (New City, N.Y.) scored 7:23 into the second half with Burke recording her second goal of the afternoon less than three minutes later. Chambers tallied her second goal of the game at the 47:43 mark to put the Lions up 8-4. The Tar Heels responded with a free position goal followed by another goal at the 56:08 mark to pull within two at 8-6. But junior Jamie Donahue (Oreland, Pa.) widened the gap to three with a free position goal with less than two minutes remaining in the contest. North Carolina would add one more goal but it was not enough at the Nittany Lions prevailed, 9-7.
Sophomore goalkeeper Lee Tortorelli (Havertown, Pa.) recorded 11 saves for the Lions while North Carolina's Katelyn Hoffman recorded 6 saves.
Penn State travels to Baltimore, Md. next weekend to take on Loyola on Saturday, April 5 at noon before facing Johns Hopkins on Monday, April 7 at 4:00 p.m. Penn State returns home on Tuesday, April 15 when it faces in-state rival Penn at 5:00 p.m.
Please visit Penn State's official athletics website, www.GoPSUsports.com for more information on the Penn State women's lacrosse team.
