Penn State women’s lacrosse (4-4, 1-0 Big Ten) went down to the wire and beat Lehigh (4-2, 1-0 Patriot League) 9-7 in Bethlehem Tuesday afternoon.

Early in the game, both teams looked deadly even as the first quarter ended 3-3. In the second quarter, Penn State slowed the game down, and thanks to two brilliant goals, the Nittany Lions took a two-goal lead going into halftime. In the second half, head coach Missy Doherty made a change on the draws, bringing in Emma Kelly for the remainder of the game. Kelly more than proved she is capable of starting, dominating on the draws and scoring a fourth-quarter hat trick.

How It Happened

The opening draw was won by Lehigh, and the Moutain Hawks wasted no time getting on the board, scoring just 35 seconds later. Lehigh won the subsequent draw and set up a methodical offensive possession but was unable to get a shot on goal before the shot clock ran out.  

Penn State was able to successfully clear, following the violation, and tied the game out shortly after. Kayla Abernathy was awarded a free position shot and capitalized to make it 1-1. The Nittany Lions also had a big chance on their first power play of the day but were unable to beat the Mountain Hawks’ goalie.  

In the following minutes, each team had multiple offensive possessions, as Lehigh broke the tie first. Not to be outdone, though, the Nittany Lions once again quickly responded this time through a beautiful stutter move from Ally Lipkin.  

A Meghan Murray quick stick two minutes later gave Penn State the 3-2 lead with five minutes to go in the first quarter. Lehigh, who continued to dominate the draws, held onto the ball for most of the following minutes but only scored once as the first quarter ended 3-3.  

The second quarter started much slower than the last as it remained scoreless through the first nine minutes. Neither team’s offense found its footing, so Kristin O’Neill decided to take matters into her own hands. She picked the ball up on her defensive restraining box, ran through the Lehigh midfield, and found the back of the net from a powerful on-the-run bouncer.  

As the first half dwindled, Kelly MacKinney gave Penn State the first two-goal lead of the game for either side. MacKinney beat her defender around the crease and finished for her first goal of the game.  

The first half commenced without another goal, so the Nittany Lions went into halftime leading 5-3. 

A slow second quarter did not translate to a slow-paced second half. Just 26 seconds in, Brooke Hoss scored on a Nittany Lion power play which gave Penn State a three-goal lead. This was Penn State’s sixth score of the game and sixth goal scorer.  

The Mountain Hawks struggled on the subsequent offensive possession, but they scored a transition goal after two Penn State failed free position chances. Another draw win from Kelly almost saw O’Neill bring the Nittany Lions back up three, but a nice save from the Lehigh goalie, Hayley Hunt, stopped the move in its tracks.  

Lehigh’s Emma Eberhardt cut the Penn State lead in half with five minutes left in the third quarter with a backhanded goal. This was her third of the game completing the hat trick with 20 minutes still to play.  

For the rest of the quarter, the offensive struggles came back as neither team recorded a shot on goal despite multiple free-position shots. Both defenses were smothering anyone who looked to shoot. Heading into the fourth quarter, the score was still 6-5. 

The defenses held strong into the fourth quarter, but Penn State extended its lead to two through its seventh goal scorer of the game. Kelly, who had taken most of the draws in the second half, scored her first of the game with 11 minutes remaining.  

The Nittany Lions scored again four minutes later once again from Kelly, but Lehigh responded within 30 seconds to make the score 8-6. The Mountain Hawks came back within one less than two minutes later.  

Kelly, the only player to score for the Nittany Lions in the fourth quarter, was not done after two. With just under three minutes to play, Kelly made a nice move from the top of the box and beat Hunt once again.  

With 1:42 left in the game, Lehigh took a penalty that put them down a woman for the remaining time. The Nittany Lions held the ball and held onto their 9-7 win.  

Takeaways

• Penn State struggled with draws early in the game, losing four of the first five until the Nittany Lions started using Kelly. The sophomore completely changed the game in the second half, winning over 50% of the draws she took. Kelly also added to her impressive performance on draws with three huge goals in the fourth quarter.
• The Nittany Lion offense has struggled to find their A1 option at times, but that doesn’t matter if the whole team is scoring. The first seven goals were scored by seven different players, as the offensive depth proved too much for Lehigh.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will remain on the road as they visit Cornell in Ithaca, New York, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 16.