Penn State women’s lacrosse (5-4, 0-1 Big Ten) fell to Ohio State (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten) Saturday afternoon in a 12-11 bout at Ohio Stadium.

Despite a dominant third quarter, the Nittany Lions were unable to pull far ahead of the Buckeyes in the fourth frame. A late goal from Jamie Lasda gave Ohio State a tight win.

How It Happened

Penn State started off with a faceoff win and got to work on offense. The team failed to make anything of its initial possession after a turnover near the Ohio State goal. Just after, the Nittany Lions picked up their first foul when Ellie Hollin saw a yellow card on defense.

Ohio State drew the first blood by scoring after five minutes of play when Jamie Lasda tucked the ball in the bottom left corner of the goal. Penn State responded quickly when Meghan Murray scored and drew the game 42 seconds later.

Three minutes later, Brooke Hoss gave the Nittany Lions their first lead off of a free-position shot. Ohio State followed up with a man-down goal as Sophie Baez scored off of a fast-break. After a media timeout, Chloe Johnson gave the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead just before the end of the first quarter.

Ohio State got another goal coming out of the break as Nicole Ferrara scored from just outside the crease. It took Penn State some time to recover, but five minutes later, Gretchen Gilmore brought the game back within one score. However, it didn’t take long for an Ohio State free-position goal to lengthen the lead back to two points. Ohio State dominated possession, and another quick goal from Baez made the game 6-3. Next, Johnson scored two goals to put the Buckeyes up with a five-point lead.

Penn State finally broke the streak as Kristin O’Neill scored her 24th goal of the season, but the Buckeyes once again increased their lead with a goal from Linday Epstein. However, Penn State got the last laugh of the first half when O’Neill scored with five seconds left. After the first 30 minutes of play, the score stood 9-5 in favor of the Buckeyes.

Penn State started the scoring in the second half as Hoss found the back of the net in the opening 25 seconds. Kayla Abernathy quickly brought the Nittany Lions to within two points a few minutes later. Kara Nealson brought the game to within one score after a free-position assist from Murray before a leaping shot from Mary Muldoon just outside the crease tied the game up for the Nittany Lions.

Ohio State started to regain some control and took the lead again after good possession with another goal from Ferrara. Penn State didn’t let up, though, as a few good attempts near the goal finally succeeded when Gilmore found her second goal with just the Buckeyes’ goalie to beat. After three quarters of play, the two teams stood even 10-10.

Penn State scored first out of the break when Taylor Regan found the net with just under 12 minutes to play. The game quieted down for a little bit until Ohio State tied the game 11-11 with just under six minutes left in the game.

As a low-scoring fourth quarter seemed destined for overtime, Ohio State got a late goal via Jamie Lasda with just under three minutes left. Lasda’s goal saved the Buckeyes and sealed the deal as Ohio State earned its seventh win of the season.

Takeaways

• Ashley Bowan needs to be better in goal. Across the game, she failed to impress and recorded a .250 save percentage. Her worst play came in the first half, saving just two balls while nine went past her. She was ultimately saved by a strong Nittany Lion attack, but performances like this won’t give Penn State many chances to win games.
• Penn State is a good second-half team. Across the season, Penn State has comfortably outscored opponents in the second half, and that was on display today. The Nittany Lions outscored the Buckeyes 6-3 in the second half.
• Penn State wasn’t necessarily the worse team in the competition. The team’s scoring run looked just as good as Ohio State’s, but the Nittany Lions got unlucky with the Buckeye’s late goal.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns home against Northwestern on Friday, April 1. The game will begin at 7 p.m.