This past weekend was a huge one for Penn State athletics with over ten teams competing in tournaments across the nation. Here is a recap of the sporting events that took place this weekend.

Men’s Lacrosse:

The No. 20 Nittany Lions beat No. 2/4 Notre Dame for the first time since 2002, and in excellent fashion with a last moment goal from senior Matthew Mackrides with two seconds left on the clock in overtime. The 4-3 upset victory improved the Nittany Lion’s record to 2-1 while also ending the Fighting Irish’s 15-game winning streak.

Mackrides scored two goals for Penn State with help from junior Drew Roper and freshman Michael Richards; both scoring a goal each. Sophomore goalkeeper Austin Kaut had a great game on defense with 18 saves. Kaut’s performance against Notre Dame earned him the title of CAA Player of the Week. The Nittany Lion’s play their next match at Ohio State March 3rd at 1 p.m. against the Buckeyes.

Women’s Swimming:

The Penn State women’s swim team swam in the Last Chance Invitational in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday. This was the last event for Penn State to swim in before they head to Auburn, Alabama to take part in the NCAA Championships from March 15th to the 17th. Freshman Allie Roberts swam the 100 back finals in 55.02 and the and the 200 back preliminaries in 1:56.82. The 200 back time is a career-best for her.

Baseball:

The Nittany Lion baseball team took a heavy 6-0 loss to UNC Greensboro on Sunday. Penn State had only two hits the entire game, both from senior third-baseman Jordan Steranka. Junior pitcher Steven Hill pitched 4.2 innings with 4 earned runs and 4 strike outs. Sophomore Joe Kurrasch threw for 3.1 innings, striking out 4 batters and allowing only 1 hit.

Wrestling:

The Nittany Lion wrestling team competed in the National Collegiate Open in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday. Redshirt freshman Jon Gingrich won the heavyweight title with a 7-0 decision over William Smith of Rutgers University. He ends his season with a 21-4 record. Redshirt freshman Dirk Cowburn placed 5th in the tournament with a 4-1 record. Red-shirt freshman Matt Brown earned a 3-o record at the tournament. He ends his freshman season with an impressive 27-2 record.

The Penn State wrestling squad will travel to Purdue University March 3-4 to defend their Big Ten title in the Big Ten Championship Tournament.

Men’s Gymnastics:

The No. 2 Nittany Lion’s gymnastics team posted a season-high score of 355.500 to earn a victory over the No. 7 Buckeyes Saturday at Ohio State. The Buckeyes had a 347.200 score. Penn State went into the match with the second highest team score (350.767) in the nation; not far off from Oklahoma’s team score of 350.817. Individual titles were earned by junior Felix Aronovich (parallel bars), freshman Tristan Duverglas (vault), and junior Scott Rosenthal. This was the Penn State’s sixth consecutive win over Ohio State; a statistic to make all of us smile.

Softball:

The Penn State softball team won only one of its four games at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. over the weekend. The Nittany Lions suffered a 6-3 loss to Notre Dame but earned a 5-4 victory over James Madison with a fourth inning rally on Saturday. Penn State suffered two losses on Sunday. They were outscored 11-3 by host UNC and 10-8 by James Madison. Junior Kailyn Johnson hit her 10th career home-run against UNC. This was the first home-run of Penn State’s season.  Johnson, along with junior Alyssa Renwick made the Carolina Classic All-Tournament Team.

Track & Field:

Penn State Track & Field competed in the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Competition over the weekend. Both teams did well with the women’s team clinching a third place finish and the men’s team earning a sixth place spot. The women’s team earned a silver medal in the 4×400 meter relay with a time of  3:35.80, a season best. The runners in that race included freshman Dynasty McGhee, sophomore Mahagony Jones, sophomore Kirsten Nieuwendam, and senior Ijeoma Iheoma. The men’s team also won a silver medal in the 4×400 relay. The runners from that race include sophomore Brandon Bennett-Green, sophomore Aaron Nadolsky, junior Casimir Loxsom, and sophomore Brady Gehret.

Fencing:

The men’s and women’s fencing teams spent the weekend in Philadelphia competing in the Temple Invitational. The men’s team had a 1-2 record while the women’s squad earned a 2-1 record. The men’s team managed to defeat Duke with a 14-13 score but suffered a 15-12 loss to Penn and another close loss to Princeton with a 14-13 final score. The women’s team earned a solid 20-7 victory over Temple and a 17-10 victory over Duke. Their only defeat came to Princeton with a score of 15-12.

Women’s Gymnastics:

The No. 10 Penn State women’s gymnastics team suffered a close lose to the No.11 Buckeyes last Saturday. The score was Ohio State’s 196.025 to Penn State’s 195.000. Unfortunately, the loss also included the gymnastics team’s first fall since January of 2011. Freshman Krystal Welsh finished second with a score of 38.900. Junior Madison Merriam took third with a 38.725 score. The team will compete at home Friday, March 2nd against UNC and Michigan at Rec Hall at 7 p.m.

Men’s Swimming:

The men’s swimming team finished in sixth place at the Big Ten Championships last weekend. Freshman Nick Savoy earned a second place finish in the 200 backstroke with a time of  1:42.56. Savoy also earned the title of Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The 200 medley relay team and 400 medley relay team both broke school records. Freshman Nick Ankosko broke the school record in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9:04.51.