Penn State men’s lacrosse (1-2-0) won its first game of the season 15-13 in a close contest against the Ohio State Buckeyes (1-2-0) Saturday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions appeared to have found their momentum this game, as Mac O’Keefe finally turned the corner and notched three goals.

TJ Malone and Dylan Foulds continue to be key play makers for the blue and white. Malone scored five goals and two assists this game, while Foulds racked up four goals.

How It Happened

After some back and forth play, Dylan Foulds, assisted by Seamus Glynn, landed Penn State on the scoreboard, notching his third goal of the season.

Glynn Foulds and we lead 1-0!#WeAre pic.twitter.com/3SGJiQJS42

— Penn State Men’s Lacrosse (@PennStateMLAX) March 6, 2021

Just over two minutes later, TJ Malone scored his fifth goal of the season, giving the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead.

At the same time, a penalty on the Buckeyes’ Eric Wenz gave the Nittany Lions their first man advantage. With 16 seconds remaining on the Nittany Lions man advantage, a penalty on Penn State’s Mark Sickler gave the Buckeyes their first man advantage of the game.

Neither team scored on the advantage, and with 5:11 remaining in the period, the Nittany Lions were still leading 2-0.

Three games into the season, it seems as if the Nittany Lionsfound their groove. Foulds scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Malone, giving the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead.

Almost 30 seconds later, Ohio State’s Scott White quickly responded to Foulds goal, shortening the Nittany Lions lead to 3-1.

With 2:12 remaining in the quarter, Foulds scored his third goal of the game to give the Nittany Lions a 4-1 lead.

A minute later, Ohio State’s Mitchell Grant made it a two-goal game again. The Nittany Lions quickly responded, and with 12 seconds remaining in the quarter Malone scored his sixth goal of the season to give Penn State a 5-2 lead to end the quarter.

Penn State started off the second frame with a goal from Bobby Burns, giving the Nittany Lions a 6-2 lead to kick off the second quarter.

A minute later, the Buckeyes’ Jackson Reid responded to Burns’ goal, closing the Nittany Lions lead.

Moments later, it appeared the Buckeyes had found their momentum, with a goal from Tre Leclaire to close the Nittany Lions lead to 6-4.

Reynolds, assisted by Jack Kelly, scored his second goal of the season to widen the Nittany Lion to 7-4. Unlike the previous two games, the Nittany Lions didn’t let a flurry of goals from the opponent shake their momentum.

A penalty on the Nittany Lions’ Sutton Boland gave the Buckeyes their second man advantage of the contest. Leclaire capitalized on the man advantage, and cut the Nittany Lions lead to 7-5 with 9:57 remaining in the quarter.

Leclaire attacked again just over three minutes later, making it a one-goal game at 6:41.

While the first half of the quarter was goal after goal after goal, the second half was much quieter, as the Nittany Lions attempted to settle things down. The second quarter ended with Penn State clinging onto their 7-6 lead.

The third quarter started off with a turnover from Penn State resulting in Ohio State’s Jack Myers equalizing the game.

Moments later, Penn State’s Grant Haus responded to Myers’ goal, returning the Nittany Lions’ on- goal lead, making it a 8-7 game.

At 11:02 into the third quarter, Malone scored an unbelievable underhand goal, giving the Nittany Lions a 9-7 lead.

Having a slow start to his season, Mac O’Keefe scored his first goal of the game, giving the Nittany Lions a 10-7 lead. Throughout the game, and the previous two contests, O’Keefe has been unable to find his momentum and be a leading goal-scorer.

Moments later, Malone scored his eighth goal of the season and fourth goal of the game, giving the Nittany Lions a four goal lead with 8:22 remaining in the third frame.

Ohio State’s Reid responded to Malone’s goal after the Buckeyes took a timeout, closing the Nittany Lions lead to make it a 11-8 game.

With just over five minutes remaining in the period, the Buckeyes attempted to further close the gap, with a goal from Griffin Hughes to close the Nittany Lions lead to 11-9.

Like the previous period, the second half of the game was much quieter, and the frame ended with an 11-9 Nittany Lion lead.

The final quarter started off with a goal from Malone to give the Nittany Lions a 12-9 lead.

Just under 5 minutes into the quarter, Foulds, assisted by Luke Mercer, scored his fourth goal of the game to give the Nittany Lions a 13-9 lead.

The Buckeyes responded to Foulds goal just over a minute later, with Johnny Wiseman shortening the Nittany Lions lead to 13-10. Under a minute later, Hughes scored again, making it a two goal game yet again.

Myers scored for the Buckeyes again, making it a one goal game with seven minutes remaining in the period, closing the Nittany Lions lead to 13-12.

Just under a minute later, O’Keefe found the back of the Buckeyes’ net and notched his second goal of the game while giving the Nittany Lions their two-goal lead back.

At 6:03, just a second after O’Keefe’s goal, Gerard Arceri received a 30-second penalty for delay of game, and Ohio State went on the man advantage.

The Nittany Lions cleared the penalty, but the Buckeyes’ Myers scored, closing the Nittany Lions lead to one, making it a 14-13 game.

With 2:29 remaining in the final frame, O’Keefe scored his third goal of the game, assisted by Kelly.

The game ended with the Nittany Lions’ first win of the season in a 15-13 contest against the Buckeyes.

Takeaways

• It appears as if the Nittany Lions have finally found their groove. Looking like the team it last season at times, Penn State played a fast-paced, high-scoring game. Even when Ohio State scored multiple unanswered goals, Penn State didn’t crumble like it had done in previous games this season. With two regular season games remaining, the Nittany Lions have an opportunity to turn things around.
• Malone continues to be a driving force for Penn State this season. The junior led all Nittany Lions in points, goals, shots, and shots on goal this game. While many expected O’Keefe to be a driving force for the team this season, Malone is filling in the gap that O’Keefe was expected to fill with ease. Foulds is another player who has really stepped up this season, just trailing Malone in goals, points, and shots on goal during Saturday’s game. The two attackmen are quickly becoming the main game makers this season for the blue and white.
• Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Nittany Lions. Ohio State was able to equalize the game at the start of the second period due to poor defensive play from Penn State. While the team was able to turn things around almost immediately, that wasn’t the case in every scenario. Two turnovers in the fourth period resulted in the Buckeyes scoring goals and deeply cutting into the Nittany Lions’ lead. This is a major issue for Penn State that continues to plague the team and needs to be resolved.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will face Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field in Baltimore next Saturday, March 13. The game will air on ESPNU at noon.