No. 18 Penn State women’s lacrosse (11-4, 3-2 Big Ten) defeated No. 10 Maryland (12-4, 4-1 Big Ten) Thursday night at Panzer Stadium in its last regular season home game.

Penn State broke Maryland’s nine-game win streak and frustrated the Terrapins all game long. Emma Kelly, Meghan Murray, and Brooke Hoss reached hat tricks and played with the defenders all night long.

How It Happened:

Maryland won the opening draw control and threatened Penn State, but the Nittany Lions forced a turnover to switch fields.

Possession was quickly traded back and forth before Maryland recorded a shot against Ashley Bowan, who was able to stop it. The Terrapins had two shots wide before winning a free position shot, which Kori Edmondson bounced in to put them up 1-0 with 8:17 to play in the first quarter.

Libby May won another free position shot that she placed over Bowan’s head to increase Maryland’s lead to two. Kristin O’Neill received a yellow card for interference, though the goal stood.

The Nittany Lions sought their breakthrough while a woman down, and Brooke Hoss converted a free position shot past goalie Emily Sterling to give them their first goal of the night.

O’Neill saw a shot foiled by Sterling, and Penn State switched back to defense, forcing a shot clock violation against Maryland. The Nittany Lions’ shots went wide before Emma Kelly won a free position shot. Her shot flew over the net and she won another free position shot in the process, which she failed to convert.

Neither team could find a breakthrough for the rest of the first quarter and ended it 2-1 for the Terrapins.

Maryland won the first draw of the second quarter but lost it to Penn State. The Nittany Lions and Terrapins traded turnovers and shots before Bowan saved a free-position shot taken by Edmondson. Despite the save, the Terrapins stayed on offense but were no match for Penn State’s defense, which forced another shot clock violation.

Penn State’s offense found Meghan Murray at the top. She messed with her defender and found an open lane to score and tie the game 2-2 with 8:38 left in the half.

The Nittany Lions carried their momentum to win the next draw and stay in control. They won a free position shot, and Kelly pushed it into the back of the net to gain their first lead of the night.

Penn State scored its fourth unanswered goal to increase its lead to two as Kristin O’Neill breezed past her defender for an easy one-on-one goal against Sterling. A free position attempt was unsuccessful and stopped by Sterling who cleared it.

Maryland went a woman-up and May found an open lane in the middle, bouncing the ball between Bowan and the near post to cut its deficit to one to end the first half 4-3.

Penn State won the second half’s opening draw, and Brooke Barger rolled along the crease to sneak a goal in and increase its lead to two. It won a free position shot taken by Kelly, but Sterling stopped it yet again.

May secured her hat trick for Maryland through a free position goal. Eloise Clevenger followed up and cut through the middle and slipped it into the upper-left corner to cut the deficit to one for the Terrapins with 3:48 in the quarter.

Penn State scored in the closing seconds of the quarter through Kelly beating her defender right in front of the goal to easily hit the back of the net 7-5.

Murray opened scoring for the Nittany Lions in the first minute of the fourth quarter, leaving defenders in the dust and scoring with no pushback. Kelly soon followed with her fourth goal of the game to gain a four-point lead 9-5.

Penn State received another yellow card and gave away a free position shot. Edmondson converted it for Maryland on the woman-up opportunity. With six minutes left in the game, Edmonson converted another free position shot to put Maryland back within two. The score was 9-7.

The Nittany Lions’ offense frustrated the Terrapins’ defense and won a free-position shot. Brooke Hoss easily smashed it into the back of the net. Penn State won the draw control and ran it right down to win another free position shot, which Murray scored to reach a hat trick.

In a last-minute attempt to stay in the game, Maryland pulled Sterling out of goal and left an empty net. Hoss won the ball for Penn State and ran down the field, easily bouncing it into the empty net.

Penn State kept control for the final minutes to secure its win 12-7.

Takeaways:

• Gretchen Gilmore is out for the rest of the season after sustaining a non-contact injury against Michigan. In her absence, there was cause for concern over who would step up, but Penn State’s offense didn’t struggle. Kelly, Murray, and Hoss all stepped up to show there is no lack of talent with their hat tricks.
• Penn State’s defense was a brick wall tonight, forcing Maryland to multiple shot clock violations. The defense frustrated Maryland consistently. The defense recorded 12 caused turnovers as it continued to break up the Terrapins’ momentum and secure the victory.
• Bowan had herself a comeback game. Last week against Michigan, she was pulled out after not recording any initial saves and leading Penn State into a deficit. She posted immense saves to keep Penn State in the game in the beginning and stepped up in the big moments. Bowan recorded 10 saves for the night from 23 shots and a .588 save percentage in a strong showing.

What’s Next?

Penn State will take on Johns Hopkins at noon on Saturday, April 22, in Baltimore.