April 4, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Penn State women's lacrosse team (3-7, 0-1 ALC) dropped a triple-overtime heartbreaker, 12-11, to third-ranked Maryland (10-1) Friday evening in an ALC/ACC Challenge match-up held at Fetzer Field on host North Carolina's campus.
Junior Kerry Shea (Baltimore, Md.) led the Nittany Lions with three goals as sophomore Theresa Bucci (Hudson, Ohio) and junior Marisa Lozano both recorded two goals and sophomore Mary LeNoir (Timonium, Md.), sophomore Maria Valderas (Catonsville, Md.), senior Jessi Lieb (Villanova, Pa.) and senior Linsey Shea (Baltimore, Md.) all tallied one goal.
LeNoir, Kerry Shea and Lieb also all added in one assist.
Senior goalkeeper Jess Boccio (Northport, N.Y.) led the team with five ground balls and recorded eight saves in 66:50 total minutes.
Penn State scored two goals in the final 7:03 of regulation to tie the score at 11-11 and the Lion defense held the Terps scoreless for the next 14 minutes before Maryland's Kelly Kasper scored an unassisted goal with 2:10 remaining in the sudden victory third overtime for the win.
The Terps got onto the scoreboard just 38 seconds into the game on a goal by Dana Dobbie from Amanda Spinnenweber. Penn State responded just over two minutes later as Lozano broke through with an unassisted score to even the score at 1-1. The teams traded goals twice and the Nittany Lions grabbed the 4-3 lead with 4:42 remaining in the half on a Bucci free position goal. But Maryland scored the next three goals to take the 6-4 advantage before another Lozano score with 55 seconds remaining pulled the Lions within one, 5-6, heading into halftime.
Out of the break, Maryland's Lauren Cohen found the back of the net to give the Terps the 7-5 lead just 25 seconds into the half. However, two Kerry Shea goals within 14 seconds of each other swung the momentum to Penn State and tied the game at 7-7 with just over 25 minutes remaining in regulation. The Nittany Lions remained hot, with goals from LeNoir and Lieb pushing the Penn State advantage to 9-7 with 21 minutes left in the half. But a Maryland goal from Dana Dobbie sparked a four-goal Terp run to put Maryland back on top, 11-9, with 15:49 left. The Penn State defense held fast and Nittany Lion goals from Kerry Shea with 7:03 left and Linsey Shea with 1:03 remaining knotted the score at 11-11 as the horn sounded to end regulation. Both teams remained scoreless throughout the first two overtime periods before Maryland's Kasper found the back of the net with 2:10 left in the third overtime to win the game for the Terps.
Maryland held the team edge in shots, 30-29, and also claimed the draw control battle, 16-11. Penn State picked up 13 ground balls to the Terps' seven and Maryland committed 14 turnovers to the Lions' eight. Penn State was successful on two of five free position shots while Maryland connected on one of three tries.
The Nittany Lions will continue play at the ALC/ACC Challenge on Sunday when it faces host No. 10 North Carolina in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Fetzer Field. Penn State's match-up with the Tar Heels will mark the 11th time the teams have met, with the Lions holding a 3-7 record in the series. Last year, Penn State knocked off the Tar Heels, 8-7, in overtime in Holuba Hall. Kerry Shea and Jessi Lieb starred for the Lions that day, netting a team-high two goals each.
For more information on the Penn State women's lacrosse team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.