Penn State women’s lacrosse (2-3) was defeated by Drexel (3-2) 14-9 at Panzer Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The Nittany Lion offense couldn’t find its rhythm until very late in the game, but the four goals in the fourth quarter weren’t enough to get past the Dragons.

How It Happened

Ashley Bowan got the start in the cage for the Nittany Lions as Erika Ho grabbed the opening draw. The offense couldn’t generate any shot opportunities and Drexel went the other way.

The Nittany Lions finally got the ball back after a long possession from the Dragons as Finley was given a yellow card on Penn State’s clear attempt. Penn State used all of the shot clock but Drexel eventually foced a turnover.

Lauren Saltz took a free position shot but sent it wide. Penn State retained possession and Ho took another free position shot that was blocked by Drexel’s Jenika Cuocco in net.

Bowan made her first save of the game and the Nittany Lions cleared up the left side of the field. Emma Kelly was called for an offensive foul, though, and Drexel took the ball back. Anna Maria Gragnani opened up the scoring with a goal for Drexel with a little under eight minutes left in the first quarter.

Penn State controlled the next draw and managed a shot but it was stopped by Cuocco and Drexel took possession. Nothing came from Drexel’s next trip to the offensive zone and Penn State went a player up after a foul. The Nittany Lions couldn’t clear and Drexel set up shop in the offensive zone while a player down.

Ho was given a free position shot with ten seconds left on the advantage and found the back of the net to even the score at 1-1 with four minutes left in the first frame.

Kelly grabbed the next draw and ripped towards the goal before firing a shot that went wide, but the Nittany Lions retained possession before a turnover sent Drexel on a fastbreak. Drexel was given a free position shot that was blocked by Bowan, but Finley grabbed the rebound and put it past the netminder to retake the lead at 2-1.

Drexel added on with another goal from Finley just 50 seconds later to push the lead to 3-1. Finley completed the hat trick in two minutes with a third straight goal to go up 4-1 and force a Penn State timeout.

Drexel held for the last shot and Gragnani was able to find the back of the net as time expired to put the Dragons up 5-1.

Drexel won the draw to open up the second quarter and Allison Drake was given a free position attempt but sent it over Bowan’s head. Kelly wrangled the ball for the Nittany Lions and after a successful clear they were able to set up an offensive possession. Kelly converted on a free position attempt to chip into the Drexel lead at 5-2.

The Dragons went back out to a four-goal lead with yet another goal from Gragnani to make the score 6-2 with ten minutes left in the half. Gragnani was given another free position shot but Bowan was able to block it but the Nittany Lions couldn’t clear.

After a lengthy delay, Ellie Wall cashed in on a free position shot to put the Dragons up by five at 7-2. The bleeding didn’t stop there and Kate Marano got past Bowan to make it 8-2. Penn State couldn’t take advantage of a free position shot on the next trip down and Drexel retook possession.

Ho put the Nittany Lions back on the board with a goal at four minutes left in the half as Penn State trailed 8-3. The half came to an end with empty possessions from both sides.

Finley picked up where she left off in the first half and scored less than a minute into the third quarter to push the lead to 9-3. Ho answered just a few minutes later after going the length of the field as she completed her hat trick and made the score 9-4.

The five-goal deficit didn’t last and Finley another goal to put the Dragons up 10-4. Caroline Senich added on with another goal on the next trip down the field as the Nittany Lions called timeout trailing 11-4. Senich scored again two minutes later.

The Nittany Lions went a player down and the Dragons capitalized behind a goal from Teagan Quinn that put them up 13-4. The Dragons got the ball back and ran out the third quarter.

Gragnani scored her fourth goal of the day with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter and the Dragons led 14-4. With a running clock, Kelly MacKinney found the back of the net to cut the deficit back to nine at 14-5.

The Drexel lead was brought back to eight after a goal from Ally Lipkin with a little over eight minutes left. The Nittany Lions struck again just a minute later from the stick of Ellie Wisch as they trailed 14-7. Ho scored twice and Penn State clawed to within five with 1:30 left in the game.

Drexel ran out the clock after winning the draw and won the game 14-9.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s offense struggled heavily throughout the entire game. Erika Ho was a bright spot for the stifled offense, finishing with a team-leading five goals.
• The Nittany Lion defense held strong through the first few possessions of the game but then gave up eight goals in just over 20 minutes of game time across the first and second quarters.
• After seeing action against Pitt last week, Asley Bowan got her first start against Drexel. She finished with a .391 save percentage.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions remain at home to take on Cornell at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 1.