Penn State women’s lacrosse (2-4) was bested by No. 13 Princeton (3-1) 16-7 on the road on Tuesday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions looked tired after the first quarter, allowing Princeton to get three shots back to back, creating a four-point deficit, proving difficult to make up in the second half.

How it Happened

The Nittany Lions took the field with Ashley Bowan starting in cage and Erika Ho taking the starting draw. The Nittany Lions looked fired up and ready to fight within the game’s first few minutes despite the torrential rain.

Princeton won the opening draw and forced a turnover on Penn State’s Lauren Tinson as Ellie Hollin’s foul gave Princeton a free position attempt. The shot went high and Princton’s shot clock violation allowed for the Nittany Lions to move the ball down the side of the field to allow Emma Kelly to put the ball in the back of the cage, her first of the season.

Princeton then won the following draw but were forced into a turnover with Nittany Lions recovering possession with a ground ball pick up. Within a few passes, the Nittany Lions lost possession and Princeton was able to take a shot on goal, with the shot going high.

A foul on Cailin Hetrick allowed Princeton’s McKenzie Blake to take a free position shot with the shot going high. Princeton recovered the ball and took another shot on cage, with the ball going wide. With both teams fighting to the ball, Princeton came up with possession and got the ball past Bowan.

With the score 1-1, Princeton won the third draw of the game and were immediately fouled by Ho. The foul allowed the Tigers to pass the ball down to Nittany Lions territory for their next goal.

Ho then won the first draw of the afternoon for the Nittany Lions and took an opportunity for a shot after Princeton’s Colette Quinn was given a foul. The shot was saved by Princeton’s goalie, with Penn State quickly getting another opportunity for a shot, but again the ball went high. Maintaining possession, Penn State recovered the ball and Princeton’s foul allowed Lauren Saltz to get her first goal of the game, bringing the score to 2-2.

Losing the next draw control didn’t seem to slow down the Nittany Lions as the defense seemed strong and forced a turnover. After the Tiger’s shot was saved by Bowan, Penn State quickly recovered and then lost possession allowing Princeton to carry the ball back to the crease and past Bowan.

With the score 2-3 Penn State’s Ellie Hollin was ready to start the play off hot as she forced a turnover and recovered the ball down the field. Hollin’s efforts fall short as Princeton recovers the ball and moves it down the field with the Tiger’s Meg Morrisroe feeding feeding the ball to the back of the cage.

After switching out draws from Ho to Kelly, Kelly proved to not be as aggressive as Ho, as she lost both draws.

The draw control by Princeton was short lived as Penn State forced a turnover and recovered a ground ball pick up, with Morrisroe getting a green card. With 30 seconds left in the quarter, Kelly was forced into a turnover before the final whistle blew, leaving the first quarter 2-4.

With Penn State setting the pace of the second quarter by winning the opening draw, Payton Wainman was able to feed the ball to Ellie Wisch to start the quarter with a goal.

Princeton immediately answered the Nittany Lions by scoring a goal off of a pass from Jami McDonald to Quinn.

Kate Dougherty was then switched in to take the draw with Kelly fighting her way to gain possession and passing to Saltz. A foul on Princeton allowed Ho to take a free position attempt with Hughes saving the ball.

With Princeton not doing much with the ball in Nittany Lions territory, a ball sent out of bounds allowed Penn State attempt a few shots in Tigers territory. Wisch’s attempt goes high and a foul on Brooke Hoss doesn’t stop her from recovering possession and scoring her ninth goal of the season.

With a one-goal lead for the Tigers, their opening draw win looked poised with the Tigers ready to put the ball into the cage, but Bowan was there to make a huge save.

Bowan’s save allowed Penn State to move the ball move down the side of the field and get a free position shot off of a Princeton foul. Although the shot went wide, Penn State maintained composure while recovering Princeton’s turnover on a ground ball pick up. Kelly took off down the middle of the field before getting the ball stripped.

With a foul on Maggie Golder, Princeton’s free position attempt allowed them to get an 6-4 edge over Penn State.

Shortly after, Tigers win possession from the draw and send the ball up the middle for Quinn to score another goal off a low ball that sneaks in between Bowan’s legs.

With the score 4-7, McKenzie Blake’s third straight draw control allows her to take the ball down the field and effortlessly past Bowan.

Looking tired and defeated, Brooke Long won the control of the ball, not long before Hoss lost the ball to Princeton and the Tigers are given a free position attempt off of Hollin’s foul. Although the ball goes wide, Penn State’s Lauren Tinson gets a yellow card giving Princeton another free position shot.

Jumping around the Nittany Lions defense and eventually losing the ball, Penn State clears the ball down the field. With the shot clock winding down and feeling the pressure of one less player, Saltz made a sloppy shot that was easily saved by Hughes.

Hughes’ save allowed Princeton to move to ball towards enemy territory before Emma Kelly fouled a player into a free position attempt. Unable to get a shot off, the first half ended 4-8.

Starting the second half, possession proved to be difficult for the Nittany Lions with a battle for the ball in the middle of the field. Nittany Lions eventually got the ball and sent it to Ho, but her shot attempt went wide.

Dougherty’s green card proved to be difficult for the Nittany Lions to recover from as Princeton was able to score a goal less than half a minute later.

Dougherty won the draw control and have Ho a shot opportunity. After clumsily losing the ball to Princeton, Penn State regained composure and fed the ball to Hoss for a goal.

With a four-point deficit, Penn State lost yet another crucial draw.

After Ho was given a green card, Princeton took a shot on Bowan, but the ball went wide. Another foul on the Nittany Lions gives Princeton an opportunity to score off a free position goal.

A minute later, the Tigers scored another goal back to back and forced the Nittany Lions to take a timeout with the score 5-11.

Coming out of the timeout, the Nittany Lions chose to switch out Bowan with Sydney Manning in the cage.

Once again, the Tigers won control of the draw and easily fed the ball up the field to score their 12th goal of the game.

Quickly after the draw, Princeton loses possession of the ball, allowing Ho to get the ball and score her first goal of the game.

Answered immediately, Morrisroe grabbed the ball from MacDonald and scored her fifth goal of the night, leading the Tigers to take a 6-13 lead over the Nittany Lions.

Looking unwilling to give up the fight, Penn State takes a shot on the Tigers, but a shot clock violation on the Nittany Lions leads the match into the third quarter.

With Dougherty still taking the draw for the Nittany Lions, she couldn’t take the ball before Blake grabbed it and moved it down the field into Nittany Lions territory.

Falling 6-14 with 14 minutes left in the match, Saltz switched in to take the draw and wins possession. With three shots attempts on goal and a shot clock violation, the Nittany Lions fail to get any sort of momentum going.

A ground ball pick up by Hollin allow the Nittany Lions to move the ball down to Princeton’s cage with two shot attempts that both get denied by Hughes.

After a 10-minute goal drought by both teams, and continuous fouling back and forth, Princeton locked in its 15th goal of the night off of a foul on Kelly.

Although Penn State won possession of the next draw, a foul on Delaney Radin followed by a foul on Dougherty allowed Princeton to create a ten point difference.

With the score 16-6 and a continuous clock, Ho won possession of the draw. The Nittany Lions benefited from a free position goal after Princeton’s Maggie Molnar receives a yellow card.

With less than a minute left in the match, Penn State took a shot off a free position attempt but the goal goes wide. Unable to recover the ball, Princeton picks up possession and holds the ball, ending the game 16-7.

Takeaways

• Penn State has to capitalize on its shot attempts. With only nine attempts and scoring on less than half of them, the Nittany Lions lack of aggressive shots proves to be their biggest pitfall.
• Draw controls were another issue for Penn State. Most of the time Princeton scored a goal was due to its wins on possession and ability to feed the ball to its attackers on the sidelines.
• Ground ball pick ups proved to be another failure in this match as the Nittany Lions didn’t recover key turnovers, resulting in Tigers possession for most of the match.

What’s Next?

Penn State takes a week off from games but return to Panzer Stadium by facing the Maryland at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 13.