No. 14 Penn State Women’s Lacrosse Upsets No. 9 Maryland 16-9 On Senior Day
Penn State women’s lacrosse (4-6) celebrated its Senior Day with a win against Maryland (6-4) 16-9 at Panzer Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Kristin O’Neill and Mary Muldoon were both standouts, as they totaled 10 goals on the day.
How It Happened
Lucy Lowe was in the net for the Nittany Lions to open the first half. After their third consecutive loss last week against Johns Hopkins, the Nittany Lions were looking for a fresh start on defense in today’s game.
Lowe made a strong first save right off the bat which led to the Nittany Lions’ first goal of the game. Mary Muldoon scored her 12th goal of the season against Maryland. The Nittany Lions led 1-0 early in the game with 28:29 left in the first half.
Marylands’ Catie May scored the first goal for the Terrapins, tying up the game 1-1 with 25:38 left in the first half.
A false start on a free position shot by Maryland’s Hannah Warther led to Kristin O’Neills 21st goal of the season. The Nittany Lions led 2-1 with 23:44 left in the half.
Another turnover was caused by Penn State’s defense, leading to Muldoon’s second goal of the game assisted by Sophia Triandafils. Penn State’s defense had a strong presence so far in the first half, leading to big plays on the offense. Triandafils then scored just over a minute after Muldoon’s goal, and Penn State took the lead 4-1 with 19:25 left in the first half.
Another forced turnover by Penn State’s defense led to O’Neill’s second goal of the game. Maryland then had a shot clock violation, its ninth turnover of the game at that point, and Dirks scored her 20th goal of the season. The Nittany Lions led 7-1 with 9:22 left in the first half.
Brindi Griffin then scored for the Terps after a nearly 15-minute drought. Maryland trailed 7-2 with 8:48 left in the half.
Griffin scored for Maryland on a man-up opportunity after a yellow card was given to O’Neill, and Quinn Nicolai responded with an assist by O’Neill with 54 seconds left in the half. Less than 30 seconds later, O’Neill made her 23rd goal of the season and third of the game. The Nittany Lions led Maryland 9-3 entering halftime.
Lowe made two big saves in the first two minutes of the game. O’Neill scored her fourth of the game on a free position shot after a foul on Maryland’s Tori Barretta. Penn State had the first goal of the second half, but Libby May for the Terrapins responded after a minute, scoring their first goal of the half. The Nittany Lions led the Terrapins 10-4 with 26:28 left in the game.
Penn State scored three straight goals in three minutes starting with Olivia Dirks. Dirks, O’Neill, and Muldoon had a huge presence on offense Sunday. The Nittany Lions led 14-5 with 14:52 left in the game.
Maryland scored its third goal of the half on a free position shot, making it a 15-6 Penn State lead. Maryland also made a goalie change from Emily Sterling to Maddie McSally to try and stop the Nittany Lions’ offense.
Maryland scored a quick two after goals but Muldoon scored her fifth of the game for Penn State, and the Nittany Lions led 16-8 with 3:11 left in the game.
The Nittany Lions finished their Senior Day game with a 16-9 victory.
Takeaways
- Lucy Lowe and the rest of the Penn State defense had a strong game, forcing nine turnovers on Maryland in the first half and seven in the second. Lowe had 10 saves in the game, stopping many scoring opportunities by the Terrapins to keep the Nittany Lions in the lead throughout the entire game.
- Penn State had significantly fewer turnovers in today’s game, finishing with just nine. This is a big improvement, considering Penn State had serious trouble in its previous three games with turnovers.
- Kristin O’Neill and Mary Muldoon showed up big Sunday. O’Neill and Muldoon both had five goals against Maryland’s goalie Emily Sterling, who just couldn’t stop the Penn State offense. Dirks and Triandafils both had a pair of goals along with five assists combined.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will travel to face Rutgers at 3 p.m on Thursday, April 15. The game will be aired on BTN+.
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