No. 17 Penn State faces tough loss against No. 19 Rutgers
Yet another Big Ten competition awaited No. 17 Penn State men’s lacrosse (7-6, 1-3) this past weekend at No. 19 Rutgers (10-3, 3-1). Despite fighting valiantly, Rutgers was able to notch a final goal in the fourth quarter that granted them the win.
The first quarter started off with a lot of Nittany Lion momentum. Penn State notched six goals to Rutgers’ one. At one point, Penn State secured four unreturned goals thanks to the skills of Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.), Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.), Grant Ament (Doylestown, Pa.), and Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.).
However, the momentum quickly shifted in the second quarter as Rutgers scored six goals and Penn State earned only one. With a tied score at the half, both teams knew that the third quarter was crucial in determining who would dominate the second half of the game.
It was the Nittany Lions who looked to fire on all cylinders during the start of the third quarter, scoring three goals, giving Penn State a seemingly comfortable 10-7 lead. The Scarlet Knights were in no mood to lose, and came roaring back with two unanswered goals, leaving the score 13-11 before the nail biter of a fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter did not go as planned for Penn State, as the blue and white was only able to score one more goal for the game. Rutgers stole the show with four more goals, just barely edging out Penn State to secure a 15-14 win.
Head coach Jeff Tambroni spoke about the loss and areas for improvement: “I give Rutgers credit, but I’m disappointed that we could not just continue to do the little things well through that stretch.”
Penn State had 36 shots to Rutgers’ 40, 22 of Penn State’s shots were on goal and 25 of Rutgers’ were on goal. The Nittany Lions dominated the faceoff scene, winning 18 of the 32 faceoffs.
Penn State is home this coming weekend against Michigan on Saturday noon.
The first quarter started off with a lot of Nittany Lion momentum. Penn State notched six goals to Rutgers’ one. At one point, Penn State secured four unreturned goals thanks to the skills of Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.), Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.), Grant Ament (Doylestown, Pa.), and Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.).
However, the momentum quickly shifted in the second quarter as Rutgers scored six goals and Penn State earned only one. With a tied score at the half, both teams knew that the third quarter was crucial in determining who would dominate the second half of the game.
It was the Nittany Lions who looked to fire on all cylinders during the start of the third quarter, scoring three goals, giving Penn State a seemingly comfortable 10-7 lead. The Scarlet Knights were in no mood to lose, and came roaring back with two unanswered goals, leaving the score 13-11 before the nail biter of a fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter did not go as planned for Penn State, as the blue and white was only able to score one more goal for the game. Rutgers stole the show with four more goals, just barely edging out Penn State to secure a 15-14 win.
Head coach Jeff Tambroni spoke about the loss and areas for improvement: “I give Rutgers credit, but I’m disappointed that we could not just continue to do the little things well through that stretch.”
Penn State had 36 shots to Rutgers’ 40, 22 of Penn State’s shots were on goal and 25 of Rutgers’ were on goal. The Nittany Lions dominated the faceoff scene, winning 18 of the 32 faceoffs.
Penn State is home this coming weekend against Michigan on Saturday noon.
