Penn State women’s lacrosse (1-0) defeated Bucknell (0-1) 16-6 in the team’s season opener Saturday at Panzer Stadium.

Kristin O’Neill led the team with six goals as Penn State trampled Bucknell to start the season strong. It was a team display with multiple hat tricks and a bright start after last season’s underwhelming play.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions fell behind quickly as Bucknell got on the board just over a minute into the game. Soon after, Caroline Miller dodged through Penn State’s defense and goalie Ashley Bowan with 11:49 to play, putting Bucknell up 2-0.

The Nittany Lions found their breakthrough at 9:15 in the quarter as senior attack Kara Nealon scored Penn State’s first goal.

The goal caused a shift in momentum as Penn State won the next draw, and Emma Kelly found her first career Penn State goal to tie the game 2-2. Thirty seconds later, the Nittany Lions took the lead as Brooke Hoss found the back of the net.

Goals kept coming as captain O’Neill scored three in a row for Penn State to end the first quarter 6-2.

O’Neill won the draw and raced down the field to score her fourth of the game, a mere nine seconds into the second quarter. Nealon followed up with her second goal to put Penn State up 8-2 with 13:45 to play.

Possession was shared for a few minutes until Bucknell got back on the scoreboard. Allie Boyce got past three defenders and found the back of the net for the Bison. Penn State quickly responded, and Kelly scored at 8:26 in the quarter to increase its lead to 9-3. O’Neill followed with another goal to make it 10-3 with just under half to play.

Shots were exchanged by both teams for the rest of the quarter and both Symone Ryans and Bowan made key saves. Penn State was able to hold the Bison back and ended the half 10-3.

After being denied a goal at the end of the first half, Bucknell’s Katie Brown found the back of the net just over 30 seconds into the second half, cutting the deficit to 10-4. There was a standstill as neither side could find a breakthrough, and possession was again shared. About six minutes after the last goal, Gretchen Gilmore found the back of the net for the Nittany Lions with 3:52 left to play. One minute later, O’Neill scored her sixth goal of the game, a career-high, to extend Penn State’s lead and end the third quarter 12-4.

Penn State opened the fourth quarter with two quick, back-to-back goals from Hoss who reached a hat trick.

An injury timeout was called with 12:34 left as a Bison player went down following a hard hit. Bucknell went a woman up following the hit and capitalized on the advantage as Taylor Kopan put one past Penn State.

With Penn State still a player down, Nealon reached a hat trick, giving the Nittany Lions a 10-point lead with 10:06 to play. Bucknell fought back and answered two minutes later as Browne scored to cut the deficit to nine, 15-6.

The Nittany Lions reached another hat trick when Kelly scored her third of the game to once again give Penn State its 10-point lead with 6:36 left to play.

The quarter ended without any more scoring. Both teams shared possession but couldn’t find a breakthrough, and Penn State won the game 16-6.

Takeaways

• O’Neill had herself a day, folks. The junior midfielder led the Nittany Lions with six goals and tore apart the Bison all game long. She was named to the Tewaarton Award Watch List, the award given to the top male and female lacrosse player in the country, and there is no doubt as to why.
• Penn State’s offense was on fire today. O’Neill might have had six goals, but there were three hat tricks today by Hoss, Nealon, and Kelly, too. The offense moved with a purpose.
• The defense stayed strong and limited Bucknell’s opportunities. The Bison only had 11 shots since Bowan and the defenders held them back all game long. Some fouls and yellow cards harmed the Nittany Lions, but the defense held its own.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will host Drexel on Saturday, February 18, at Panzer Stadium. The game will begin at 3 p.m.