Penn State women’s lacrosse (4-0, 0-0 Big Ten) took down Pitt (2-1, 1-0 ACC) 12-11 in an overtime thriller.

The Nittany Lions had a strong first half, scoring nine goals, but only two in the second half, to go into overtime. After losing to the Panthers last year, Penn State redeemed itself with this hard-fought win.

How It Happened

Pitt won the first draw of the game and quickly ran downfield to start the game. The Panthers’ offensive movement started slowly, creating turnovers early in the game.

Penn State’s defense started strong, not allowing the Panthers to move the ball near the crease.

The first offensive possession for Penn State started with a goal scored by Anna Salerno with 12:05 left to go in the first quarter. The Nittany Lions took no time to show their strong offensive skills on their opening drive.

Penn State quickly got the ball back and had a free position shot opportunity. The shot was saved, but immediately recovered by Payton Wainman, who scored with 11:04 left in the first.

The Nittany Lions won the next draw and continued to show a strong passing scheme, working around and behind the goal. The Nittany Lions created open space in the middle of the field close to the crease for easy shot opportunities.

Kelly MacKinney scored Penn State’s third goal of the game on an amazing behind-the-back shot with 9:53 left to go in the first quarter. Penn State yet again showed dominance early in the game as it did last week against Bucknell, and led 3-0.

Emma Kelly won another draw, but the Panthers quickly forced a turnover and ran downfield to score with 8:54 left in the first. Avery Moon had her first goal of the day for Pitt.

Penn State slowed down, struggling to hold onto the ball. The Panthers’ defense managed to get multiple stick checks, forcing turnovers.

However, the Nittany Lions had a free position shot opportunity and scored with 5:26 left to go in the first through Delaney Radin, her first of the day.

Both Penn State and Pitt were forcing turnovers on various possessions in the game.

With 1:57 left in the first quarter, Wainman scored her second of the game, giving Penn State a four-goal lead.

Pitt won the next draw and struggled to get shots on goal. Penn State’s defense remained strong, but gave away a free position shot, which was saved by goalie Sydney Manning.

The first quarter ended with Penn State leading 5-1. The Nittany Lions had an impressive defense, preventing Pitt from taking easy shots and forcing multiple turnovers.

Penn State started the second quarter with the ball, but quickly turned it over. Gigi Leonzi scored the first goal of the second quarter for Pitt with 13:30 left to go.

Kelly won the next draw, and Penn State continued its smooth offensive passing scheme. With great movement at the X position, Radin passed the ball to a wide-open Roquette Allen in the middle, who scored with 12:21 left in the half.

On Penn State’s next offensive drive, the Panthers forced a turnover. They wasted no time, scoring with 9:24 left to go in the half as Moon got her second of the day.

The Panthers won the next draw, but the Nittany Lions had another stop on defense. Maddie Greco took a big hit, allowing Penn State to play a man up.

The Panthers defense got the ball back from a missed shot off the post. Penn State got right back on offense, where Kelly used her explosive speed to score with 6:20 left in the half.

Shortly after, Kelly scored her second, giving Penn State a five-goal lead with 5:35 left to go in the half. Kelly was dominant on offense, winning multiple draws and speeding downfield to score two goals within a minute of each other.

With 4:47 left in the half, Pitt responded with a goal by Madeline Mill. The Panthers were determined to narrow Penn State’s lead as they moved the ball faster on offense.

The Nittany Lions went a man down after a penalty, but stayed aggressive on defense. Penn State bounced back from the penalty as Kelly scored her third goal of the day with 2:48 left to go in the half, securing her hat trick.

Penn State was two men up in the last minute of the half, but couldn’t score, and it ended 9-4.

Penn State won the draw to start the second half, and Pitt picked up a penalty in the first minute of the third quarter.

Paige Telatovich scored with 12:28 to play, the first goal of the second half, as the Panthers narrowed Penn State’s lead down to four.

With a false start off the draw for Penn State, Pitt scored another goal with 11:28 left to go in the third quarter through Kaitlyn Giandonato for her first of the day.

Penn State’s offense started sloppily, causing multiple turnovers. However, a free position shot opportunity led to a goal by MacKnney with 8:05 left in the third quarter.

With a turnover from Pitt, Greco used her speed to march downfield and gave Penn State multiple shot opportunities, but they went wide of the net.

The Panthers had a free position shot, but it was saved by Jansen, who wasted no time to show her focus and coordination skills.

Radin scored her second of the day with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

The third quarter ended 11-6 as Penn State maintained its lead. Its offense struggled more in the second half, only scoring two goals.

The fourth quarter started with the Panthers in possession, but they did not manage to get a shot off and picked up a shot clock violation.

Pitt went a man down with a green card, and Penn State continued to move the ball well. Panther goalie Molly Cain was able to make multiple back-to-back saves, allowing Pitt to move downfield.

Leonzi had her second goal of the game with 11:48 left in the game for Pitt. Shortly after, Emily Clemens scored another for Pitt with 10:29 left in the game.

Penn State’s lead narrowed to three, as its offensive rhythm slowed down. It only had two goals in the second half with 10 minutes to go.

Pitt scored another goal, made by Telatovich, with 9:00 left to go in the game. The Nittany Lions’ defense struggled to stop shots.

The Panthers shortly narrowed Penn State’s lead to one, as Clemens scored with 5:13 left to go in the game.

Kelly eventually started taking draws again, but wasn’t as dominant as before. Pitt managed to get possession and had a free position shot opportunity, but Jansen clutched a save to give the Nittany Lions the ball again.

Penn State struggled to move the ball past midfield, giving Pitt multiple shot opportunities.

At the two-minute mark, Penn State had the ball and tried to get a goal to secure a solid lead before the game was over. However, Penn State turned the ball over, giving Pitt possession with 47 seconds left.

With a risky move from goalie Jansen, she left the net, allowing Pitt to get an easy goal with 11 seconds left. Clemens scored again to force the game into overtime.

Penn State started overtime with possession, but turned the ball over on a missed pass out of bounds. Pitt also turned the ball over on their first overtime possession, giving Penn State another opportunity to score.

Penn State finished the game with a win on a final goal scored by Allen in overtime, squeezing past Pitt 12-11.

Takeaways

• Kelly’s explosiveness helped her lead Penn State in scoring. However, she struggled with draws more than last week, and eventually got replaced by Ellie Wisch.
• Radin had a strong passing performance with two goals and two assists.
• Sydney Manning started the second half, but was subbed out for Arden Jansen. Coach Kayla Treanor is still exploring depth with the goalie position.
• Penn State struggled on both sides of the field in the second half, but remained strong and pulled a win.

What’s Next?

Penn State heads to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to take on Drexel at noon on Sunday, February 22.