May 13, 2015
| #7 PENN STATE at #2 UNC | |
| NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS | |
| 16-4 | 16-3 |
| Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. | |
| FETZER FIELD | CHAPEL HILL, N.C. | |
| GAME DAY CENTRAL | |
ESPN3 / WatchESPN | | |
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TEAM STATISTICS Penn State | North Carolina | PROMOTIONS Pink Night | Pink Giveaways |
| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | 2015 Stats | UNC |
| 16-4 | Overall Record | 16-3 |
| 4-1 | Conference Record | 6-1 |
| 272 | Goals Scored | 260 |
| 187 | Goals Allowed | 151 |
| 13.60 | Goals Scored/gm. | 13.68 |
| 9.35 | Goals Allowed/gm. | 7.95 |
| 566 | Shots | 578 |
| 28.3 | Shots/gm. | 30.4 |
| 110 | Assists | 108 |
| 45-100 | Free-Position Shots | 35-87 |
| 278 | Ground Balls | 349 |
| 254 | Draw Controls | 253 |
| 223 | Turnovers | 220 |
| 163 | Caused Turnovers | 170 |
| 160 | Saves | 151 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 7 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team looks to make its first NCAA Semifinals appearance in 16 years when it takes on No. 2 North Carolina Saturday at Fetzer Field in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Penn State and the Tar Heels will face off for the first time since 2009 with ESPN3 and WatchESPN providing a streaming broadcast.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Penn State is making its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance this season. Under head coach Missy Doherty, the Nittany Lions are making their fourth straight appearance, a feat not accomplished at PSU since 1993, which was a string of nine in a row.
Penn State is 18-18 all-time in the tournament with a 5-10 mark in away games. PSU's last win at an opponent's field in tournament play prior to Sunday's at UVa was May 8, 1999 at Princeton in the quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions are making their third trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals in four years, while looking for their first semifinal showing since 1999.
Penn State and North Carolina have met just once before in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels took a double-overtime 7-6 win at Penn State in 2005.
The winner of Saturday's game will face the winner of Duke vs. Princeton, which will be played just eight miles away in Durham, in the NCAA Semifinals hosted at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.
SIX NITTANY LIONS EARN ALL-REGION NODS
Penn State garnered a school record-tying six members on the IWLCA All-Region teams announced Monday afternoon. Goalkeeper Emi Smith, defender Abby Smucker, midfielder Tatum Coffey and attacker Maggie McCormick all received first-team honors.
Two more Nittany Lions: midfielder Jenna Mosketti and attacker Steph Lazo garnered second-team recognition. The six total honors tie the most in school history, set in 2005. PSU is a part of the IWLCA West/Midwest region.
McCormick and Mosketti earn their third IWLCA All-Region selections, with the senior landing on the first team each year, while the junior making the second team each season. Coffey gathers her second all-region accolade, and her first since 2012 when she was on the first team.
A total of 21 Nittany Lions have earned IWLCA All-Region honors under fifth-year head coach Missy Doherty.
LIONS DOWN VIRGINIA TO REACH QUARTERS
No. 7 Penn State used 14 Emi Smith saves and a trio of hat tricks to beat No. 8 Virginia in an NCAA Second Round contest at Klöckner Stadium. Penn State heads to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third time in four years under head coach Missy Doherty.
Smith's 14 saves for Penn State (16-4) negated a 34-21 shot advantage by Virginia (12-7), which included a 17-8 margin in the second half. The Nittany Lions earned their first 16-win season since 1989 when Penn State captured its second NCAA title with a 19-1 mark.
In front of Smith, three Lions gathered hat tricks: Katie O'Donnell, Madison Cyr and Steph Lazo. O'Donnell and Cyr also tossed in two assists to complete their five-point days.
Kristin Brent and Tatum Coffey also had two goals apiece to round out Penn State's scoring.
After Virginia overcame a four-goal deficit with a 5-1 run, Penn State responded with a 3-0 spurt of its own to put the game out of reach. The second goal in that span was a Lazo tally from Jess Loizeaux during a five-minute possession before Cyr put the game away with a pair of empty-netters.
ON THE CUSP
By beating Hopkins and Virginia, the Nittany Lions attained their first 16-win season since 1989 when the Nittany Lions claimed their second NCAA title.
Penn State's 40 wins over the past three seasons are the most since 1989-91 when those squads gathered 44.
Additionally, a win over North Carolina would advance Penn State to its first NCAA Semifinals since 1999.
HOW THE TAR HEELS GOT HERE
North Carolina (16-3) played its first game in two weeks against unseeded Florida in the NCAA Second Round, defeating the Gators, 11-5, on Sunday at Fetzer Field. The Heels, who are making their 16th tournament appearance, are an at-large bid out of the ACC.
ABOUT THE TAR HEELS
No. 2 North Carolina features a balanced scoring attack with 10 double-digit scorers, four players with at least 10 assists and 13 Tar Heels with at least 10 points this season. UNC averages 13.68 goals per game on 45 percent shooting, while its terrific defense ranks 12th in goals against (7.95 per game) and save percentage (.500).
Aly Messinger leads the team in goals (36) and points (51), while Sammy Jo Tracy is second on the squad with 35 goals and third on the team with 40 points. Molly Hendrick is the third-leading scorer with 30 goals and fourth on the team with 35 points, while Maggie Bill is second on the Heels with 41 points and fourth in goals (27). Sydney Holman and Sam McGee are the team's facilitators with 21 assists apiece.
On the draw, Sarah Scott has 41 controls followed by Hendrick (37) and Tracy (33). Defensively, Margaret Corzel and Caileigh Sindall have both produced a team-high 22 caused turnovers.
In net, Caylee Waters ranks fourth in the nation in save percentage (.510) and 12th in goals-against average (7.69). Waters has 106 saves against 102 goals allowed, while scooping 23 ground balls.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTH CAROLINA
The Nittany Lions and Tar Heels will meet for the first time since 2009 with UNC holding a 9-3 all-time edge. The last time these two teams met in the NCAA Tournament, UNC earned a 7-6 double-OT win at Penn State in 2005. Penn State plays at Fetzer Field for the first time since 2008 in the ALC/ACC Challenge.
All-Time Series: North Carolina leads 9-3
PSU Streak: 2 losses
First Meeting: 4/21/99, PSU 7-6
Last Meeting: 4/5/09, UNC 11-7
Last PSU Win: 4/6/07, PSU 8-7 (2OT)
Last UNC Win: 4/5/09, 11-7
Largest PSU Win: 9-7 (3/30/03)
Largest UNC Win: 19-9 (4/01/01)
BALANCED SCORING
The Nittany Lions have received goals from 14 different sources this season with nine different double-digit scorers in all.
Tatum Coffey (42) has surged to the PSU lead in goals, scoring 13 in her past four games, followed by Steph Lazo (41), who bounced back from her first scoreless game of the year with a hat trick at Virginia.
Madison Cyr (36), Jenna Mosketti (30), Katie O'Donnell (30), Kelly Lechner (23), Maggie McCormick (22), Jess Loizeaux (10), and Abby Smucker (10) round out Penn State's double-digit scorers.
Kristin Brent, who is riding a four-game scoring streak, has nine tallies this year in 13 games.
MCCORMICK STANDS ALONE
Maggie McCormick is the current Penn State record holder for assists (137) and has risen to fourth in all-time points (259). Her point total is the most by a Nittany Lion in a single career since Tami Worley registered 289 in 1986-89. McCormick (122 goals) is 14th all-time at Penn State in scoring.
COFFEY INTO THE RECORD BOOKS
Having scored 13 goals in her past four games, Tatum Coffey has surged into the Penn State career top 20 for goals (129) and points (171). Those marks rank her 13th and 16th, respectively. Coffey is two points from 15th and three goals from 12th in the record books.
LAZO LEADING THE LIONS
Despite missing two games with injury, Penn State sophomore Steph Lazo has been the team's leader in goals for the majority of the season, tallying 41 thus far.
In all, Lazo has 50 points on the season, third-most on the team. She trails only Maggie McCormick (65, 22-43) and Tatum Coffey (53, 42-11). Entering 2015, Lazo had only one goal to her name.
Lazo has 10 games this season where she has scored three or more goals.
DOHERTY, SMITH CLAIM B1G HONORS
The Big Ten Tournament champion Nittany Lion squad was twice honored on Monday afternoon, May 4, as head coach Missy Doherty and Emi Smith were named the Big Ten Coach and Goaltender of the Year, respectively. Both Doherty and Smith were unanimous selections by the Big Ten coaches.
Doherty orchestrated Penn State's first tournament championship in her fifth season at the helm. Personally, Doherty collects her second coach of the year honor (2004 CAA, at Towson), while leading her Lions to their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She is the first Nittany Lion head coach to win a conference coach of the year honor.
A junior goalie, Smith has had a breakout year for the Blue & White in anchoring PSU's defense. For her efforts two weekends ago, she was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
FIVE LIONS EARN ALL-BIG TEN DISTINCTION
The Big Ten Conference announced its first women's lacrosse all-conference team on Wednesday, April 29, and it features five Nittany Lions.
Maggie McCormick, Tatum Coffey and Abby Smucker each received unanimous selection, while Madison Cyr and Emi Smith rounded out Penn State's All-Big Ten roster.
The Nittany Lions made up a quarter of the inaugural All-Big Ten Team, with No. 1 Maryland taking home seven spots. In addition to the five representatives, McCormick represents Penn State as the team's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
NITTANY LIONS IN THE RANKINGS
The Nittany Lions held steady at No. 7 following its two wins in the Big Ten Tournament, while moving up a spot unofficially in the NCAA RPI to No. 8.
POSSIBLE NEXT GAME
The winner of Penn State-North Carolina will face the winner of Duke-Princeton on Friday at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. in the NCAA Semifinals.