Penn State women’s lacrosse suffered three straight losses to ranked opponents, first falling to No. 19 Princeton, then No. 6 Michigan, and most recently No. 3 Maryland.

The Nittany Lions started the season 9-0 and won their first conference game against USC. The offense was rolling, scoring at least 18 goals in three straight games before their first loss to Princeton. But ever since that game almost three weeks ago, the team has lost momentum.

After the Michigan game, head coach Kayla Treanor spoke about the losses the team suffered.

“We’re really taking everything one game at a time. Our offense has got to play better than we did today,” Treanor said. “We’ve got to have better offensive possessions, and we’ve got to execute on game day.”

Michigan only took four more shots than Penn State did, but won by five goals. The Nittany Lions gave up three position shots in the first quarter alone, while they went 0-4 on eight-meter attempts.

Treanor noticed how the team struggled with man-up opportunities as well.

“I think the man-up goal that we did have in the first quarter was beautiful. But on man-up, we didn’t execute,” she said.

Michigan had five green cards and two yellows. There were even two instances where Michigan was down a player for two minutes and was unreleasable, but Penn State still couldn’t capitalize on the man-up opportunities.

The Nittany Lions struggled to get off shots under heavy pressure from Michigan’s defense. The crease was compacted, making it harder to find players to pass to in the slot.

Treanor mentioned how the team could work forward on offense.

“I thought we just had a lot of unforced errors: dropping the ball, stepping in the crease, going off sides, not getting back up. I think that player for player, we didn’t have a great day,” Treanor said. “You could see a spurt at the end with three minutes. We scored two quick goals. That’s more our offense. I just don’t think we had it today.”

After the team’s second loss, the Nittany Lions had to prepare to take on an even better opponent in Maryland.

To prepare, Treanor believed the team needed to be more disciplined on the defensive end and play a complete game from start to finish instead of finding its rhythm in the second half. She also pointed to draw controls as an area to improve, saying that while the numbers were close, gaining an edge there would help control possession and ease the pressure on the offense.

She also mentioned how in man-up and in free positions, the team struggled. But against Maryland, the team flipped the script.

Coming off two straight losses, Penn State was motivated to win. The team had to prepare to play one of the best teams in the country, and despite losing, there were still positive takeaways.

The Nittany Lions were behind the Terrapins in many stats, including shots taken, ground balls, draw controls, and clears, and they had one more turnover than Maryland. However, they had double the amount of saves, had the same amount of goals on free position shots, and were called for fewer fouls.

Offensively, Penn State found open shots in front of the crease and worked around defenders smoothly. The game was a one-score difference, and if the Nittany Lions had just converted one more free position shot, then the game could’ve been pushed to overtime.

Rocquette Allen led the team in goals with five and had arguably the most impressive goal in all of women’s lacrosse this season. Allen, along with Payton Wainman, is one of the two players who have 30+ goals on the season.

Rocquette Allen (@PennStateWLAX) made this #SCTop10 play…FROM THE GROUND @SportsCenter | @B1GLacrosse pic.twitter.com/6O48bS8Fd2

— TLN (@LacrosseNetwork) March 30, 2026

The freshman-senior duo has dominated scoring this season. Both remain consistent and reliable in moments when Penn State needs to find momentum.

Defensively, the first half against Maryland was sloppy. On the goalie side, Sydney Manning had six saves in the first half. However, she drew a yellow card at the end of the second quarter, allowing Maryland to score an unguarded goal on a free position shot.

Freshman Makenna Gagliardi stepped in as goalie for Manning and recorded eight saves in the game. Treanor decided not to sub her out despite it being the first time she ever stepped foot in a collegiate game. Gagliardi played a huge role against Maryland and was a reason Penn State kept the game so close.

While the Nittany Lions may have lost the past three games, and a heartbreaker in College Park, the team recently proved they can compete against anyone, regardless of their ranking.

Penn State will travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State at noon on Sunday, April 5, at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium.