No. 10 Penn State Women’s Lacrosse Drops Second Straight To Ohio State 11-9
No. 10 Penn State women’s lacrosse (3-5) fell once again to Ohio State (3-7) 11-9 Sunday afternoon after losing control of the game in the second half.
The Nittany Lions were unable to win the draw throughout the majority of the game, and could not catch up after letting Ohio State score five consecutive goals down the stretch.
How It Happened
Penn State started the game with Olivia Dirks facing off against Chloe Johnson on the draw after struggling in the face-off circle on Friday.
The first goal of the game was after four minutes into the first half by Ohio State’s Ashley Turner.
Penn State went a man up after Ohio State got a yellow card. Sophia Triandafils answered the Buckeyes quickly, making the game 1-1 with 24:08 left in the first half.
Penn State led 2-1 after Quinn Nicolai scored with 22:16 minutes left in the first half. Over 10 minutes passed in the half before Olivia Dirks scored for the Nittany Lions, taking the lead to two for Penn State. Both defenses were showing their strengths and kept the game close and low-scoring in the first half.
Ali Beekhuizen scored for the Buckeyes to tie up the game 3-3 with seven minutes left in the first half.
Head coach Missy Doherty put Kristin O’Neill and then Kayla Abernathy on the draw, trying to combat Johnson who again caused issues for Penn State.
The first half ended with Penn State up 5-4. The Buckeyes led the first half in shots 19-12, but were not able to connect with the net, hitting the post at least four times while Taylor Suplee made several big saves for the Nittany Lions.
Liza Hernandez opened up the second half for the Buckeyes, scoring and tying up the game 5-5 just a minute into the second. Ohio State came out strong off the draw, keeping the ball on offense, but the Nittany Lions were making it tough by keeping a strong presence on defense.
The Buckeyes took their first lead of the game 6-5 on an eight-meter shot by Lindsay Epstein. With 22:49 left in the second half, the Nittany Lions had plenty of time to take control on offense again.
Soon, however, the Buckeyes grabbed a 9-5 lead. Ohio State had scored five unanswered goals against the Nittany Lions in the second half with 16:18 left in the game. The Nittany Lions hadn’t scored since O’Neill found the back of the net with 3:17 left in the first half.
Ohio State’s Epstein went off for a two-minute foul due to a check to the head against Dirks, earning the Buckeyes their third yellow card of the game. Mary Muldoon scored Penn State’s first goal of the second, ending the Buckeyes five-goal streak.
Muldoon then scored her second of the game, and the Nittany Lions trailed 10-9 with 4:23 left. Ohio State responded less than a minute after and scored to take the lead 11-9 with 3:48 left in the game.
Penn State couldn’t respond, and Ohio State took possession of the ball for the last three minutes of the game to run the clock out for the 11-9 victory.
Takeaways
- Penn State’s defense was looking strong and more organized in today’s game up until the second half. The Nittany Lions were playing a strong zone defense with Taylor Suplee in the net for the entire game. Suplee made multiple saves and made herself look big in the net, causing the Buckeyes to hit the post throughout the game.
- The Nittany Lions had fewer turnovers in the midfield and on offense this game, improving their confidence on offense and throughout the field.
- Ohio State’s Chloe Johnson was still very strong on the draw control. Coach Doherty used over three different players to try to find an answer to winning the draw against Johnson, but it was unsuccessful, as she won almost all of the draws in the game.
- Jillian Rizzo made a big presence for Ohio State in the net. The Nittany Lions were not able to get the ball past her for the majority of the second half.
- Penn State struggled for the first half of the second, not able to connect on offense, and gave Ohio State the opportunity to take the lead and hold onto it for the entire half.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will face Johns Hopkins in Baltimore at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 7. The game will air on ESPNU.
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