Penn State women’s lacrosse mounted a furious comeback Thursday in College Park, but it wasn’t enough to beat No. 3 Maryland, falling 13-8 to the Terrapins.

Senior captain Katie O’Donnell led the Nittany Lions with six goals in the loss, tying her career high.

How It Happened

Maryland’s Megan Whittle scored with 28 seconds left in the first half to give the Terrapins a 5-3 lead over Missy Doherty’s squad. Whittle recently broke the program record for career goals and extended it to 275 against the Nittany Lions.

Temple’s Gail Cummings owns the all-time NCAA mark with 289, but Whittle could easily surpass her in the postseason if Maryland goes on another deep tournament run as expected.

The defending national champions, who beat Penn State 20-10 in last year’s Final Four at Gillette Stadium, opened up a sizable lead early in the second half.

The Nittany Lions scored four goals in a row to cut the deficit to 11-8 with 5:16 to go, but O’Donnell’s outstanding goal as she got knocked down would be their last.

Maggie Gallagher and Kayla Brisolari finished with a goal apiece on an otherwise tough night offensively for the Nittany Lions. O’Donnell, who’s scored in 38 straight games, is now tied with Laurie Gray for sixth place on the program’s points list with 216.

Player of the Game

Katie O’Donnell | Senior | Midfielder

The West Chester, PA, native continued her terrific play this season with another gem of a performance in the loss.

What’s Next?

No. 15 Penn State (9-6, 3-2 Big Ten) travels to No. 1 Stony Brook next Tuesday at 4 p.m. before returning home for the regular season finale against Michigan the following Saturday at 2 p.m.