Penn State women’s lacrosse (6-0, 0-0 Big Ten) defeated Cornell (2-2, 0-0 Ivy League) with a close finish at the end of the game.

Penn State yet again started the game strong. The team’s first half performance was dominant, however the second half started to slip away more than expected. However, the team still powered through another ranked opponent keeping their win streak and undefeated season alive.

How It Happened

Emma Kelly won the first draw of the game and gave Penn State the first offensive possession. Cornell’s defense covered the crease very heavily giving Penn State no shot opportunities.

The first few minutes remained scoreless. Both teams had strong defenses early into the game.

Penn State had a free position shot opportunity, where the ball was checked out of Maddie Greco’s stick, but was picked up by Payton Wainman who scored the first goal of the game with 10:48 left in the first quarter.

Sydney Manning started as the goalie for the Nittany Lions as Treanor continued to show the talented depth in the goalie position.

Cornell caused a penalty giving Penn State another opportunity to score. With 9:52 left in the first quarter, Delaney Radin scored Penn State’s second goal of the game.

Wainman scored her second goal of the game with 8:03 left in the first. Penn State took an early 3-0 lead. Throughout this season, this team has taken huge leads early into games. The Nittany Lions continued to do so against Cornell.

Cornell responded with a goal scored by Dillyn Patten with 6:56 left in the first. The Big Red won the next draw and had a power play opportunity.

Penn State remained strong on defense and stormed back downfield. Roquette Allen scored her first of the game with 4:53 left in the first.

Allen scored her 16th goal of the season as a freshman. She has instantly made an impact on this team early into the season.

Penn State won the next draw giving the team another offensive possession. Kelly McKinney had an impressive one-handed catch and a quick score for her first of the game with 2:32 left in the first. Penn State took an early 5-1 lead.

Shortly after Cornell marched downfield to scored a goal with two minutes left in the first quarter. The goal was scored by Addy Smith for her first of the game.

The first quarter ended 5-2. Penn State started strong and looked to continue its offensive momentum.

Penn State started the second quarter with possession. The team had a free position shot opportunity but just missed.

Cornell took possession but it’s shot was saved by Manning. The Nittany Lions took control again and scored with 11:19 left in the half. Allen scored her second of game with an impressive shot through tight angle.

Cornell won the next draw as Kathleen Michaud scored with 10:26 left in the half. The Big Red moved quickly on offense. Each player was very explosive with the ball swiftly getting the the middle of the field for shot opportunities.

Manning had another great save which gave Penn State another offensive possession. Lizzie Anné scored her first goal of the game with 8:59 left in the half.

Cornell won the next draw and Michaud scored her second goal of the game with 7:55 left in the half.

Penn State had played two more games than Cornell this season. The team proved they had more experience with a dominant offensive and smart passing.

Allen scored a behind-the-back goal without hesitation for a hat trick in the first half alone with 4:53 left in the half. She led the offense with three goals and one assist.

Penn State’s defense had high pressure on Cornell far into the field. Cornell had a free position shot opportunity but was yet again saved by Manning. She had a great start to the game with six saves.

The Nittany Lions had another power play on offense.

Erika Ho, who recently missed games and didn’t see much time today, came back into the game. Penn State had been looking to get one of their star players back on the field. She had a free position shot opportunity but missed.

The Nittany Lions chased the ball to stay on offense but turned the ball over.

The first half ended 8-4 as Penn State maintained an efficient offense. Manning also had a few nice saves to help the Nittany lions maintain their lead.

The first possession of the second half went to Cornell. Manning started the second half and saved another shot to start.

Penn State got the ball back but had it’s shot saved. Cornell ran back downfield with another great shot opportunity, but was yet again saves by Manning.

Manning had been having a fantastic game. Coach Treanor had been playing both Arden Jansen and Manning all season, but seemed to want to keep Manning in the game.

Radin had a free position shot opportunity but her stick was checked giving Cornell the ball again.

Neither had had scored within the first seven minutes of the half. Cornell began to show pressure behind the goal at X position.

But, the Nittany Lions finally scored with a goal by Ellie Wisch with 7:50 left in the third quarter. Penn State had their biggest lead of the game up five.

Cornell won the next draw and had a power play opportunity. The team responded as Michaud scored her third goal of the game with 6:37 left in the third. Michaud led Cornell’s offense with a hat trick.

Cornell had been scoring multiple unassisted goals. The team had been looking for a stronger passing strategy, but individual goals seemed to have been working.

Kelley won the next draw but Penn State quickly turned the ball over. Cornell settled down on offense wanting to take it’s time to catch up.

The Big Red eventually turned the ball over again and caused a two minute power play which gave Penn State a huge opportunity to control the field.

Ho scored her first goal of the game with 4:01 left to go in the third quarter. She missed the previous two games and was excited to showcase her return.

Penn State’s defense had been making it difficult for Cornell to find good shot opportunities. They were forcing multiple turnovers and stepped up for the team throughout the game.

Cornell responded and scored with 1:23 left to go in the third. Patten scored her third goal of the day giving her a hat trick. Cornell only had two players score between it’s six goals.

Kelley quickly won the next draw and gave Penn State the ball again. The Nittany Lions drained the clock as much as possible and ended up with a free position shot.

Wisch scored her second of the day with 22 seconds left in the third quarter. That was the first free position goal for the Nittany Lions today as they struggled with the opportunities being 1-5 on the day.

The third quarter ended 11-6 as Penn State maintained a strong enough offense to extend it’s lead. The team’s defense had been pushing Cornell to turn the ball over various times truly being the back bone of today’s game.

Cornell started the fourth quarter with possession and scored with 14:18 left to go in the game. Lilly Whaling scored her first goal of the game, and was yet again unassisted.

The Big Red won the next draw and quickly scored another goal with 13:50 eft to go in the game. Manning saved another shot but Lexie Tully got her own rebound and scored.

Cornell narrowed Penn State’s lead to only three goals. The team had some fight left and knew there was plenty of time.

Cornell drove downfield again but had another shot saved by manning for her ninth of the game. Penn State drew a yellow card and gave the Big Red a two minute power play.

Penn State started to lose composure on offense. The team struggled to slow down on offense and take it’s time when finding good shot opportunities.

Cornell had it’s first assisted goal of the game on a buzzer beater shot clock violation. Whaling scored her second of the game with 7:23 left in the game.

Penn State gained possession after a huge battle on the next draw. After many shot opportunities, the Nittany Lions turned the ball over.

Cornell went back on offense down by two, but Penn State got the ball back with three minutes left in the game. The Big Red was pressuring the ball heavily as they moved away from their typical zone defense.

Allen missed another shot and Cornell had the ball again. Manning had another save with less than a minute to go.

Cornell forced a full field pressure in desperation for a goal, but it wasn’t enough.

Penn State beat Cornell 11-9 with their sixth win in a row, strting the season undefeated.

Takeaways

• Penn State had another dominant start but started to fall later into the game. The Nittany Lions struggled with maintaining a heavy lead.
• Sydney Manning had an impressive 10 saves today. Coach Treanor had been playing both Manning and Arden Jansen all season, normally subbing Manning after half. However, Treanor kept Manning in today as she had a great performance.
• Roquette Allen led the offense with three goals. The freshman yet again showed her immediate impact on the team.

What’s Next?

Penn State comes home to play Colgate at Noon on Wednesday, March 4.