STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 21, 2002 -- Junior attack Colleen O'Hara (Ardmore, Pa.) scored four goals to lead the 15th-ranked Penn State women's lacrosse team past Northwestern Sunday afternoon, 13-10. The Lions improve to 6-7, 3-1 in the American Lacrosse Conference while NU falls to 5-8, 2-3 in league play. O'Hara leads the team in goals scored with 31 on the season.

Penn State senior Molly Ford (Trenton, N.J.) notched the first goal of the afternoon just three minutes into the game. Northwestern's Donna McCann tied the game at one but O'Hara answered 23 seconds later to put the Lions back on top. Six seconds later, senior B.J. Lucey (Springfield, Pa.) extended Penn State's lead to 3-1 with a goal off the draw, but the 'Cats fought back to tie the score at 3-3 just 10 minutes into the contest. O'Hara and sophomore Katie Jeschke (Ellicott City, Md.) both scored off of free position shots to give Penn State a 5-3 lead with 14:42 remaining in the first half. Two quick Northwestern goals again tied the game at five apiece. Freshman Kristen Burke (Severna Park, Md.) notched a marker at the 8:49 mark to give Penn State the lead, but a free position goal by NU's Sarah Albrecht with one second remaining sent both teams into halftime knotted at six.

Sophomore Stephanie Curnoles (Baltimore, Md.) gave Penn State the 7-6 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the game, but Northwestern's Courtney Flynn scored to tie the game at 7-7 with 15 minutes to play. A Lucey goal off a pass from freshman Emily Chambers (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) and an O'Hara free position goal put the Lions up 9-7, but again, Northwestern fought back to tie the game. Another Lucey goal at 5:46 and a tally by senior Alison DeCecco (Newtown Square, Pa.) with five minutes in the game gave Penn State the 11-9 lead. NU would score again with 4:23 remaining, but the Lion defense and goals from O'Hara and Chambers ended the game, 13-10

Freshman goalkeeper Lee Tortorelli (Havertown, Pa.) recorded 7 saves in the contest while Northwestern's Emily Gersuk made six.

Penn State returns to action on Wednesday, April 24 for their final home contest of the regular season when it takes on second-ranked Georgetown beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Jeffrey Field.

 Scoring Summary First Half 27:56 P Ford 26:57 N McCann (C. Koester) 26:34 P O'Hara (Ford) 26:28 P Lucey 21:29 N E. Flynn (Albrecht) 20:36 N C. Flynn (FP) 17:39 P O'Hara (FP) 14:42 P Jeschke (FP) 14:02 N Gantner (Albrecht) 13:31 N C. Koester 8:49 P Burke 0:01 N Albrecht (FP) Second Half 20:22 P Curnoles (Chambers) 15:53 N C. Flynn (Albrecht) 13:33 P Lucey (Chambers) 11:27 P O'Hara (FP) 9:43 N Albrecht 8:50 N E. Flynn 5:46 P Lucey (Pace) 5:00 P DeCecco 4:23 N Albrecht 2:56 P O'Hara (FP) 0:04 P Chambers (Donahue) --LIONS--