Penn State men’s lacrosse (6-3) earned themselves an easy win at home against Cleveland State (2-8). The two year old program was no match for Penn State’s offensive onslaught, unable to keep up throughout the afternoon.

How It Happened

Penn State was active for the fist few minutes of the game. Despite not scoring on a good chance during their first possession, the Nittany Lions were able to hole Cleveland State down to the shot clock on its first chance. Building off that defensive momentum, Tanner Peck was then able to slot one in unassisted for the Nittany Lions to open up the scoring around five minutes in.

After another defensive stop, at 7:17 Nick McEvoy banged on in off an assist from Nick Spillane as Penn State made things 2-0 early on. Penn State kept up the pressure Cleveland State couldn’t get anything going by the Nittany Lion goal. Taking advantage of a penalty, Dylan Foulds got one in for himself with a man up as his squad held their 3-0 lead into the second quarter.

Thing got rough for Penn State early in the second quarter. Cleveland State was able to get its first goal of the game in while also having Penn State give them a man-up advantage after a cross-checking penalty. Penn State was able to launch a short offensive attack to starve off the penalty. Just a few seconds after both teams were even, Spillane got himself a good look at the Cleveland State net to give the Lions their three-goal lead back. Cleveland State was able to answer back after a defensive lapse from Penn State to make it 4-2 with 10:42 to go.

Another penalty from some flag happy refs gave Cleveland State another chance to score. Just as the penalty was released, they did. The goals kept coming though, as Penn State was able answer back with another goal from Peck. But once again, Cleveland State was right there off a breakaway to make things 5-4 with 7:52 to go in the quarter. Things were back and forth for the rest of the quarter but, with time ticking down, Mac O’Keefe was able to score a buzzer beater, turn around goal to make things 6-4 Penn State at the end of the half.

The theme of the second half was “Penn State scoring as much as possible.” The third quarter opened with another faceoff win for ace Gerard Arceri to open up a quick chance for Foulds to score another goal. Just three minutes later, Foulds bounced one more in for himself to complete the hat trick and to make it an 8-4 Penn State lead. The Nittany Lions kept the pressure up and once again, just a couple minutes later, Matt Donnelly got one in for his first of the day, making it 9-4 Penn State with still nine minutes in the third.

The goals kept coming for Penn State. Bryan Townsend scored with 6:13 to go to make it a 10-4 game, Cole Willard off an assist from O’Keefe at 4:49 made it 11-4, and Spillane got himself another one to make it a 12-4 Nittany Lions lead, one that would hole until the end of the third quarter.

Once again, Penn State opened up the quarter with a quick goal, this time from the stick of Nick Cardile as Spillane got himself another assist. Again, Penn State answered the goal with another goal, as O’Keefe gave us a sequel to his buzzer beater earlier in the game with a thunderous shot into to the right corner.  Cleveland State was able to get in position for a goal, but couldn’t get a good shot as a series of duds hit the back wall.

Two more goals came for Penn State after getting the ball back from Foulds and Robby Black to make it a 16-4 game. Cleveland State finally was able to get their first goal of the second half with 7:01 to go in the fourth quarter. Penn State would park it in for the remainder of the game, Cleveland State once again unable to take advantage of their chances as Penn State cruised to a 16-5 victory.

Player of the Game

Nick Spillane | Junior | Attack

Spillane led the way for the Nittany Lions, scoring two goals and four assists for a team high six points.

What’s Next

Penn State will start conference play when they visit Ohio State in Columbus on March 31. The game will start at 3:00 p.m. You can catch it on ESPNU.