Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (6-7, 4-2 Big Ten) defeated Ohio State (8-4, 1-4 Big Ten) 12-11 in an incredible overtime win Sunday afternoon in Panzer Stadium.

The match started with immediate goals from Penn State and Ohio State, and both teams maintained high intensity throughout the game. With stellar performances from Erika Ho and Emma Kelly, it seemed to be enough to help the Nittany Lions pull off yet another Big Ten win.

How It Happened

Coming off of yet another Big Ten win on Thursday, head coach Missy Doherty kept things the same with Ho moving into center field to take the opening draw and Sydney Manning in cage for the Nittany Lions.

Ho immediately took the opening draw and carried it down to Buckeye’s territory. A foul on one of Ohio State’s players put Ho in position to score, and she notched the first goal for the Nittany Lions.

The goal seemed to awaken the Ohio State players as Ella Wright secured the following draw for the Buckeyes and passed it to her attackers waiting by the cage. The Buckeyes tried to take shots on cage, but none made their way past Manning. A missed shot allowed Ho to make a ground ball pickup and take another shot, but Ohio State goalie Jocelyn Torres saved the ball. Ohio State recovered the missed shot and carried it past Nittany Lions defenders to notch its first goal of the match.

Penn State answered quickly by sending Brooke Long into center field to take the draw. Long quickly secured the ball and took it to the Buckeye’s cage, finding a way to slip it past Torres.

Ohio State secured the following draw and passed it down the field. The Nittany Lions committed a foul, allowing the Buckeyes to score off of a free-position attempt. The momentum continued for Ohio State as it snatched the following draw and carried it down the field for its second straight goal, bringing the score to 3-2.

A green card on Kelly and two other Penn State attackers allowed Ohio State to take a free-position attempt. The Buckeyes lose the ball due to a forced turnover by Maggie Golder, and Manning picked up the ball. Manning passed the ball to the Nittany Lions on the sidelines, who moved the ball past Buckeye defenders. A foul on Ohio State gave the Nittany Lions a free position shot, with Kelly capitalizing and scoring on the attempt.

The following seven minutes of the quarter were a continuous back and forth, with both the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions scoring in the final few minutes. With an even score of 4-4, the Nittany Lions looked strong but couldn’t stop the dominant Buckeyes offense.

Heading into the second quarter with a tied ball game, the Nittany Lions immediately fouled Ohio State, allowing it the opportunity to get multiple shots on goal. The first shot on goal went wide but was recovered by Ohio State. However, the following two shots on goal were saved by Manning, with the final shot recovered in a ground ball pickup. With Manning sending the ball down the field, Kelly MacKinney took the ball and moved it past the Ohio State goalie.

Manning continued her aggressiveness by forcing a turnover after the Buckeyes received possession from the draw control. This allowed Manning to send the ball down the field and for Penn State to clear the ball into Buckeye territory. However, a failed shot on cage allowed the Buckeyes to recover possession and carry the ball to Manning in cage.

With the score tied 5-5, the Nittany Lions started picking up momentum and finding ways to put pressure on Buckeye attackers.

Following the goal, the Buckeyes maintained possession after winning the draw control. They tried to get the ball in the back of the cage, but Manning is there to make two huge saves. The saves allowed Penn State to recover the ball and clear it into Buckeye territory. However, a turnover and clear attempt by Ohio State didn’t allow Penn State much time to take shots on goal.

With the Buckeyes back in Nittany Lions territory, Ho recovered the ball after Ohio State was forced into a turnover. This recovery allowed Penn State to get the ball to Ho, who dished it to Payton Wainman for her third goal of the season.

The Nittany Lions kept this momentum going even after multiple fouls on both Golder and Lilly Spilker. These fouls allowed Ohio State to take free position attempts, but the shots were saved by Manning. After Manning’s save, Penn State recovered the ball, and a foul on Ohio State put Ho in position to take a free position attempt. The shot was saved by the Buckeyes’ goalie, but Penn State recovered the missed shot.

With the shot clock winding down, MacKinney found Wisch and got one final goal before the half ended. Penn State went into the locker room leading 7-5.

Coming out of the half, Penn State looked asleep and lethargic. The Buckeyes ran circles around Penn State and scored twice within the first few minutes. Penn State took a timeout to try to slow down the Buckeyes, which seemed to work, and Kelly came out hot. She secured the ball and carried it to the opposing cage, and a foul on Ohio State allowed her to score off a feed from Brooke Hoss.

The Buckeyes answered almost immediately by securing the following draw and carrying past to Manning in cage, securing their eighth goal of the match.

For the next six minutes, the Buckeyes remained dominant by winning both draw controls and scoring two more points to take the lead. The Nittany Lions tried to slow down the Buckeye offense with double teams and aggressiveness, but continue to fail to slow down Ohio State. Finally, Penn State won a draw control from Ho, and this seemed to give Penn State some energy. Ho took a shot on cage, which was saved but recovered by Hoss. After passing the ball for 20 seconds, Kelly finds Elise Smiegel to end the scoring drought for the Nittany Lions.

With both teams looking tired, not much happened in the final few minutes of the quarter, and the Nittany Lions entered the final quarter down one. However, Penn State scored almost instantly off a feed from Wainman to Long.

However, this goal began a nearly 10-minute drought of scoring for both teams. With a continuous back and forth, neither team moved the ball past either goalie. With five minutes left in the quarter, Penn State called a timeout.

The timeout seemed to have worked as Penn State recovered possession off of a ground ball pickup by Lauren Saltz. Ohio State committee,d a foul and this puts Wainman in position for a free position attempt. Wainman scored and put the Nittany Lions back in the lead.

However, this lead was short-lived as Ohio State got the ball on the following draw and wasted no time sending it down the field and past Manning. With the score 11-11 and four minutes left in the game, neither team registered a shot on goal. A yellow card on Saltz and a timeout by Ohio State allowed the Buckeyes to take a free position attempt, but the attempt failed, sending the match into overtime.

Heading into overtime, the Nittany Lions were a man down due to Saltz’s yellow card in the fourth quarter. Ohio State used this to its advantage and gained possession. After taking the ball to the Penn State cage, the Buckeyes took a shot on cage, but Manning was there to make an incredible save.

The save allowed Ho to recover the ball and hustle down the field to Buckeye territory. Ho fed Wainman the ball, and she put the ball past Ohio State’s goaltender, securing a win for the Nittany Lions in sudden-death overtime.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions were hurt monstrously by their inability to secure draw controls. Many of the goals scored by Ohio State were off of draw-control wins and quick turnarounds that Penn State didn’t defend.
• Penn State did an excellent job capitalizing on its shots on goal. With fewer shots on goal than Ohio State, Penn State still made sure its goals were positioned to be effective and with an offender ready to recover the ball if the shot failed.
• Manning proved yet again to be a star player. With three crucial saves that not only slowed down the Ohio State offense, she also recovered the ball and sent it to attackers on the sidelines who were ready to carry the ball down the field.

What’s Next?

Penn State continues its run of home games by hosting No. 18 USC in Panzer Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 13.