UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 25 Penn State Women's Lacrosse team welcomes Duquesne for a mid-week matchup on Wednesday. First draw is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Panzer Stadium with a broadcast on BTN Plus.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Missy Doherty, are off to a 2-0 start following a 13-9 win over Lehigh on Saturday. Maria Auth led PSU with three goals and four assists. Sophia Triandafils also had three goals. Penn State was ranked 25th in Monday's IWLCA Coaches Poll.
Duquesne, coached by Corrine Desrosiers, is 1-1 this season after an 11-10 win over Canisius.
Follow along with the action on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensLacrosse) and Twitter/Instagram (@PennStateWLAX).
TICKETS
Tickets will be available at the stadium. Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 12 and under).
Advance tickets are now available for Sunday's game against Cornell. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth. All tickets are general admission. Tickets are available here. They will also be available on game day at the stadium.
PARKING
Fans are encouraged to park in the Jordan East Lot, in front of the Multi-Sport Facility.
SCOUTING THE DUKES
Duquesne, coached by Corinne Desrosiers in her second season leading the program. The Dukes are 1-1 this season, falling 11-9 against Ohio State and defeating Canisius, 11-10.
Maddie Hart led Duquesne with five goals, including two on free-position opportunities. She added six groundballs, eight draw controls and six caused turnovers. Elizabeth Petrosky tallied three points, a goal and two assists, while Tina St. Clair had two goals. Michaela Connolly contributed a goal and an assist. Maddy Curtis made five saves in the win.
On the season, Rilee Bradshaw and Hart are tied for the team lead with five points, each scoring five goals. Hart also leads the squad with eight groundballs, 12 draw controls and eight caused turnovers. Connolly owns two goals and two assists, while Kirsten Barnes has three goals. Curtis has made 15 saves through two games. She has a .417 save percentage.
Penn State earned a 17-6 win at Rooney Field in the matchup last April.
LEHIGH RECAP
The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 7-1 lead on Saturday, benefitting from a 7-0 run, on their way to a 13-9 win over Lehigh.
Senior Maria Auth led Penn State with seven points, including three goals. All of her goals came on free-position attempts. She dished out two assists in each half. Sophia Triandafils found the net three times, with the last one giving PSU an insurance goal to slow down a Mountain Hawks' run.
An even spread throughout the offense included two goals by Mary Muldoon, a goal and two assists by Katie Schluederberg and a goal each by Lauren Craft, Shannon Moore, Quinn Nicolai and Kristin Roberto.
Freshman Olivia Dirks collected six draw controls and fellow rookie Meghan Murray won five. Taylor Suplee recorded 12 saves for the second straight game. She made nine saves in the first half.
It was Penn State's 28th straight win in the series against Lehigh. The Nittany Lions won their sixth straight home opener, dating back to 2015.
AUTH REACHES 150-POINT MARK
Senior attacker Maria Auth collected three goals and an assist in PSU's season-opening win over Towson to raise her career point total to 151. She added seven more points on Saturday vs. Lehigh.
She has a team-high 11 points this season, including six goals. She has made the most of her free-position opportunities, scoring four times. She ranks third in the nation with two free-position goals per game.
Auth has 110 goals and 48 assists in 152 career games. It was her 19th career game with three or more goals. Auth led the Nittany Lions with 46 points, including 32 goals in 2019. She had 11 multi-point games and 10 games with multiple goals. She was an All-Big Ten selection in 2019.
SUPLEE LEADING B1G GOALIES
Sophomore Taylor Suplee has started the 2020 season with back-to-back 12-save games. She now has 11 career double-digit save performances.
Through the first two weeks, Suplee leads the Big Ten in saves per game, ranking 15th in the nation. She also sits ninth in the country with a .571 save percentage, leading the Big Ten. Suplee also leads the Big Ten with a 9.00 goals-against average, good for 16th in the country.
She won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award for her performance against Towson in the season opener. Suplee recorded a career-high seven groundballs against Towson, the second-most in the nation.
CARTER EARNS EARLY SEASON HONORS
Senior attacker Madison Carter was selected to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List on Wednesday. She was named a third-team Preseason All-American by Inside Lacrosse in January. Carter returns for her fifth year after suffering an injury early last season. She graduated in May with a degree in Rehabilitation and Human Services and is pursuing a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She is a two-time IWLCA All-American and a three-time All-Big Ten selection.
Through the first six games of the 2019 season, Carter tallied 17 goals, four assists, five groundballs, 24 draw controls and two caused turnovers. She had three multi-point games, including a career high-tying six goals against Cornell. She also had five goals and six draw controls at Princeton.
Carter enters the 2020 season sitting fifth all-time at Penn State with 197 goals. She is also seventh in program history with 218 career points. In 2019, Carter became the 15th Nittany Lion to reach the 200-point mark.
PENN STATE SELECTS TEAM CAPTAINS
The Nittany Lions selected four players as team captains for the 2020 season. Senior attacker Madison Carter, senior defender Hayley DeAgostine, junior attacker/midfielder Quinn Nicolai and junior midfielder Sophia Triandafils were tabbed to lead the squad.
DeAgostine, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, started all 17 games in 2019. She totaled 16 groundballs, two draw controls and nine caused turnovers. Nicolai made 15 starts on attack last season, leading the team with 34 goals. She ranked second on the team with 42 points. She placed seventh in the Big Ten with 4.0 shots on goal per game. Triandafils started 14 games at midfield, recording a team-high 17 assists to go with 24 goals and 16 draw controls.
The captains will lead the 24 returners and 11 newcomers that make up the 2020 squad.
NEW FACES ON COACHING STAFF
The Nittany Lions welcomed assistant coaches Corrine Drost and Michael Molster to the staff.
Drost served as the offensive coordinator at William & Mary in 2019. Molster spent seven seasons at Towson, coaching the defense and goalies. He is also a defensive assistant for the England Senior National Team.
SECOND YEAR IN PANZER
The Nittany Lions will open up their second season in Panzer Stadium on Saturday. Penn State earned five home wins in 2019, including four in Panzer Stadium.
The state-of-the-art venue was dedicated on September 23, 2018. The stadium project was made possible through the efforts of Ken Panzer, a 1982 graduate and former co-captain of the men's lacrosse team, and his long-time business partner at Douglas Emmett, Jordan Kaplan. In May 2017, the duo committed a $3.55 million gift to transform the Penn State Lacrosse Field into one of the premier lacrosse stadiums in the country. Additional gifts by Penn State lacrosse alumni and donors totaled $2 million, bringing the total donations to $5.6 million.
Junior Alyssa Sloane