Penn State men’s lacrosse scored four unanswered goals in the final period against No. 7 Loyola in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to dig themselves out of an early hole, as the Nittany Lions lost 8-6.

Six different scorers added goals for Penn State, with Matt Florence, Pat Manley, Brian Prestreau, Mike Sutton, TJ Sanders and Nick Aponte recording the tallies.

How It Happened

Florence opened up the scoring with a bullet from the top of the arc just 1:38 into the game to give Penn State an early 1-0 lead — their only lead of the game. Loyola responded with three straight goals, including one with eight seconds left in the period, to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Penn State stopped the bleeding with a goal from Manley just under seven minutes into the quarter as he drove to the net to pull the Lion within one, 3-2. The Greyhounds would answer in a big way once again, scoring four unanswered goals to take a 7-2 lead late into the third quarter.

Needing a spark to get back into the game, Prestreau netted a sidearm shot on a feed from Dan Craig to make the score 7-3 with 2:05 left in the third quarter. The late goal awoke the Penn State scoring attack, as Sutton scored just 21 seconds into the fourth quarter, followed by a goal from Sanders just over three minutes to later to cut the deficit to two, 7-5. With 8:22 remaining, Aponte sent a low shot into the net off of an assist from Sanders, giving the Nittany Lions its fourth unanswered goal to move within one, 7-6.

Looking to tie the game, a costly turnover in Loyola territory allowed the Greyhounds to breakout, leading to the game-sealing goal with just 1:36 left in regulation to make the final score 8-6. Connor Darcey took the loss to move to 1-1, making 14 saves.

Player of the Game

TJ Sanders. After scoring a hat trick last week, the junior led the team with four shots on net, adding a goal and an assist.

Game Notes

• For the second game in row, the Nittany Lions were out-shot by the opposition, 22-14.
• Penn State’s Drake Kreinz claimed 9-of-17 faceoffs, but the Lions were narrowly edged in the ground ball battle, 35-32.
• The Lions had a hard time holding onto the ball, committing 22 turnovers to Loyola’s ten.
• Penn State finished 1-for-3 on the man advantage, while Loyola was 0-for-2.

What’s Next?

Penn State hits the road again next week, visiting in-state rivals Villanova on Sat., Feb. 21 at 1 p.m.

Photo: Mark Selders