Feb. 4, 2017
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Under the leadership of captains Katie O'Donnell, Erika Spilker, and Abby Smucker, the No. 7 Penn State women's lacrosse team (1-0) defeated Albany (0-1) in its opening game of the season, 20-9.
"They did a great job, they're great leaders in a lot of sense," head coach Missy Doherty said of the captains. "Spilker on defense is orchestrating that team down there. [O'Donnell and Smucker] had some great plays today."
Penn State got on the board first thanks to a goal from senior attacker Steph Lazo, but the offensive game was just beginning. O'Donnell, a junior midfielder scored the next three goals, including a beautiful shot from the 8-meter arc.
O'Donnell's three straight goals gave the Nittany Lions a 4-1 lead halfway through the first half. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native started 20 of 21 games during the Nittany Lions' 2016 season, scoring 46 goals. She added four assists, bringing her point total to 50 by the end of the season.
Penn State notched three more goals to finish the half up 7-5. Lazo earned two more goals while senior midfielder Abby Smucker had one.
The second half saw the Great Danes score first, but it was a five-goal scoring streak started by Lazo that put the Nittany Lions back on track. Lazo's goal was followed by O'Donnell's fourth goal of the game, giving the Nittany Lions a 9-6 lead.
Penn State inched further away from Albany as Lazo swooped in for her fifth goal of the game with 22:35 left to go in the second half. Sophomore Madison Carter and another goal by O'Donnell came in quick succession, less than 40 seconds apart.
This scoring streak doubled the Nittany Lions' lead, giving them a 12-6 edge with less than 20 minutes to go in the second half. Doherty was pleased with the Nittany Lions' strong start to the second half and noted it was veteran leadership that controlled the pace of play on offense and defense.
The Nittany Lions once again took the reins in the second half, scoring five goals unanswered, a streak that furthered Penn State's lead, 20-9. The Nittany Lions' stellar second half performance surged them past the Great Danes. O'Donnell ended the game with five goals, Lazo with five, and Carter with six.
Doherty said she believes what makes the Nittany Lions so effective is every player's ability to get on the score sheet and make plays.
"That's what we pride ourselves on," Doherty said. "The fact that everyone is a threat, we don't want to just go down to one person."
Doherty said it's extremely important that each Nittany Lion is a powerful player on the field, and that's what makes her team so dominant from the start.
She was also pleased with how each player contributed to the win, noting it was a group effort to defeat the Great Danes, 20-9.