No. 18 Penn State women’s lacrosse (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) defeated USC (6-2, 0-1 Big Ten) 19-8 in its first conference game of the season.

This was the third game in a row where Penn State scored at least 18 goals in a game. Ten different players scored tonight and the Nittany Lions had another double digit win.

How It Happened

Maddie Greco took control of the first draw and got possession for Penn State. The Nittany Lion’s first shot was saved and the ball went to USC.

A turnover flipped the switch as Penn State marched back downfield. Erika Ho scored the first goal of the game with 11:31 left in the first quarter. She had a free position shot opportunity and capitalized.

Penn State won the next draw but the ball was shortly turned over. Goalie Sydney Manning cleared the ball for the Nittany Lions as they went back on offense.

Another free position shot opportunity led to a goal scored by Kelly MacKinney with 8:35 left in the first quarter. The Nittany Lions led 2-0 against their first conference opponent.

USC scored after Manning accidentally hit the ball behind the goal with 6:43 left in quarter. A mistake that isn’t seen often by Manning led to USC getting its first goal of the game.

Emma Kelly quickly responded for Penn State and scored with 6:00 left to go in the game. Kelly, who is typically the draw specialist, has been crucial in many offensive possessions this season. She proved to be a bigger threat outside of draws.

USC won the next draw and was given a free position shot opportunity. It didn’t score on the free position shot, but later scored a goal with 3:42 left in the quarter. Emma Bunting scored her first of the game for the Trojans.

Penn State won the next draw which led to a goal scored by Payton Wainman with 2:50 left in the quarter. That marked her 23 goal of the season thus far.

Wainman scored another goal shortly after with 1:53 left in the quarter. She extended Penn State’s lead by three goals.

Both teams had offensive possession to end the quarter but couldn’t score. The first quarter ended 5-2 as Wainman led the offense in scoring.

USC started the second quarter on offense but the shot clock expired. Penn State turned the ball over on its next offensive possession.

Penn State got the ball back and Wainman eventually had a free position opportunity. She scored her third goal of the game and the first of the quarter for Penn State with 11:54 left in the half. Wainman got a hat trick in the first half alone.

USC won the next draw but Penn State was heavily pressuring the Trojans on defense. The team was double teaming the ball which led to a turnover.

Anna Salerno scored her first goal of the game with 10:25 left in the half. Penn State took its biggest lead of the game, up four goals.

USC responded with a goal scored again by Bunting with 8:57 left in the half.

Penn State won the next draw and quickly scored. Ho got her second goal of the game with 8:30 left in the half. The Nittany Lions responded within 30 seconds of the Trojan’s last goal.

After USC forced a turnover, Reese Robertson scored with 7:29 left in the half. Both the Trojan’s last two goals were on transition offense. Since Penn State was pressuring the ball so well, USC capitalized on transition opportunities where the team is quickly up a player on offense.

However, Wainman scored her fourth goal of the game with 6:28 left in the half. She maintained Penn State’s five goal lead and had a very impressive first half performance.

Penn State won the next draw and had a free position shot opportunity. MacKinney immediately lined up for an eight meter shot and ripped it in the back of the net with 5:55 left in the half. Penn State had its biggest lead of the game up six

USC had an offensive possession to try and cut Penn State’s deficit, but the Nittany Lions’ defense covered the crease too well and the Trojan’s couldn’t even get a shot off. A shot clock violation led to another Penn State possession.

Delaney Radin scored her first goal of the game with 3:34 left in the game. Penn State had been shooting the ball low in this game. The team’s bounce shots had been sneaking it’s way through the goal and been very efficient in the second half.

Penn State’s offense had been setting up players in the middle of the field for easy shot opportunities. Each play centers around cutting to the crease which USC couldn’t defend.

On Penn State’s next possession, Radin had an unbelievable behind the back goal while not even looking at the goal. She immediately caught the ball and didn’t hesitate to shoot the ball backwards scoring a huge goal for the Nittany Lions with one minute left in the half. Penn State led by eight goals.

The half ended 12-4 as Penn State scored seven goals in the second half. Wainman led the team with four. The Nittany Lion’s defense was covering the ball very well as USC primarily scored on transition plays.

Penn State won the first draw of the second half. Kelly continued to dominate draw controls and in the first 30 seconds, Greco scored with 14:30 left in the third quarter.

The Nittany Lions wasted no time to extend its lead.

USC responded after a waived Penn State goal. Robinson scored her second goal of the game with 12:05 left in the third.

Penn State gained possession after a forced turnover and scored. Radin scored her third goal of the game with 11:05 left in the quarter. She became the second player for Penn State to get a hat trick in the game.

USC was in desperate need to come back, but the team lost the next draw. Roquette Allen scored her first goal of the game with 10:20 left in the third.

Allen had been quite in the game and wanted to get involved. She had been patient and finally found her opportunity to score. Penn State led 15-5 with a 10 point lead.

USC finally forced a turnover and was up a player, but Manning saved the next shot.

Coach Kayla Treanor had again decided to start Manning the second half. In recent games, Manning had been starting the second half. Most games have had a second half substitution which could still happen later into the game, but Manning had been playing well.

MacKinney scored another goal with 5:09 left in the quarter. MacKinney got a hat trick and was the third player to do so for Penn State.

With a draw win for the Trojans, Bunting scored her third goal with 4:02 left in the quarter. She became the first player for USC to get a hat trick and was responsible for half of the team’s goals.

USC forced a turnover on Penn State’s next possession and had a free position opportunity. Bunting scored her fourth of the game with 1:06 left in the quarter. Bunting became a serious threat to Penn State’s defense.

Penn State called a timeout late into the third quarter. The Nittany Lions have had patterns of letting up more goals in the second half. Coach Treanor wanted to gather her team together to strive the same way they had been all game.

Penn State had a free position shot opportunity. MacKinney scored her fourth goal of the game with 12 seconds left in the quarter. She gave Penn State its double digit lead back.

The third quarter ended 17-7.

The fourth quarter started with a goal from Ellie Wisch with 14:32 left in the game. The Nittany Lions again wasted no time to score.

Kelley won another draw for Penn State as Lizzie Anné scored her first goal of the game with 12:54 left in the game.

USC had a free position shot opportunity on the team’s next possession. The team was in need of a goal but the shot was saved by Manning.

Penn State quickly ran downfield and had a free position opportunity, but the shot was saved.

The game started to slow down but the Trojans did not give up. Anna Regan scored with 4:25 left in the game.

Penn State appeared to have the win secured, but there was still some time left to play.

USC won the next draw but had another shot saved by Manning. Penn State gained a free position shot opportunity but it was saved.

Manning was able to save another shot on USC’s next possession.

While USC had strong defense to finish the half, it wasn’t enough. Penn State won 19-8 with another dominant performance.

This marked 600 program wins for Penn State as the school became the third team to ever do so.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s offense had its third straight game of scoring at least 18 goals. Nine different players scored today which yet again showed the depth within the roster.
• MacKinney and Wianman led the team in goals with four each.
• Manning played the whole game in goal and has been slowly been making a bigger name for herself as the team’s lead goalie. She finished on a .500 save percentage.
• Penn State got its first conference win of the season and remain undefeated reaching a massive milestone.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns home to play No. 19 Princeton at noon on Sunday, March 15.