UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 21 Penn State Women's Lacrosse team is ready for its second straight Top 25 matchup when it visits No. 16 James Madison on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The game will be live streamed on NBC Sports Washington Plus.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Missy Doherty, are 4-1 this season after dropping a 22-12 result to No. 5 Loyola last Saturday. Maria Auth led the offense with three goals and an assist, while Lauren Craft, Katie Schluederberg and Sophia Triandafils each had two goals. Taylor Suplee made 15 saves, including 11 in the first half.
James Madison, coached by Shelley Klaes-Bawecombe, is 3-1 after a 13-8 win at High Point last weekend. The Dukes also have wins over No. 23 Virginia Tech (9-8) and UConn (11-8).
Follow along with the action on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensLacrosse) and Twitter/Instagram (@PennStateWLAX).
SCOUTING THE DUKES
James Madison is coached by Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe in her 14th season leading the program. The Dukes are 3-1 this season and ranked 16th in the IWLCA Coaches Poll is week. They are also No. 16 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll and No. 19 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Poll. James Madison earned a 13-8 win at High Point last Saturday. The Dukes also own wins over No. 23 Virginia Tech (9-8) and UConn (11-8).
In the win over High Point, Isabella Peterson led the team with six goals and an assist. Doria Lucchesi contributed two goals. Katie Checkosky added a goal and three assists. Molly Dougherty made seven saves in goal.
The Dukes rank 88th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 10 goals per game, and 23rd in scoring defense, allowing 9.75 goals per contest. Peterson leads the team with 13 points, including 12 goals. Logan Brennan has 10 points with four goals and six assists. Maddie McDaniel paces the team with 20 draw controls, while Rachel Matey has 17. Emma Johnson ranks seventh in the nation with 10 caused turnovers.
Penn State fell 11-9 against James Madison last year in Holuba Hall.
LOYOLA RECAP
Penn State and Loyola battled back-and-forth through the first 15 minutes of the game, tying at 5-5. However, Loyola used a 3-0 run to gain distance and expanded their lead to win 22-12.
The Nittany Lions' offense was led by Maria Auth, who recorded three goals and an assist. Sophia Triandafils contributed two goals and an assist, while Lauren Craft and Katie Schluederberg each had two goals. Yasmain Hamood, Mary Muldoon and Meghan Murray each tallied one goal.
Olivia Dirks won nine draw controls. Taylor Suplee recorded 15 saves, including 11 saves in the first half.
Loyola was paced by four goals and three assists by Sam Fielder and four goals by Elli Kluegel.
IN THE POLLS
Penn State is currently ranked in two national polls. The Nittany Lions are No. 21 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and No. 19 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll.
MAKING AN IMPACT
The Nittany Lions have partnered with Team IMPACT, an organizing that pairs children with chronic or severe illnesses with college teams.
On February 26, Penn State introduced Abby Marinaro as its newest teammate. Marinaro is a 10-year-old from Lititz, Pa. with cystic fibrosis.
NATIONALLY TELEVISED NITS
The Nittany Lions will be shown on at least four national broadcasts this season. The first will be at Rutgers on Thursday, March 26 at 5 p.m. on Big Ten Network. Penn State's matchup against No. 13 Michigan on Thursday, April 2 will be broadcast on BTN at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions will be featured a third time on Big Ten Network when they take on No. 10 Maryland on Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m. Penn State will also be on a national broadcast on Thursday, April 9 when they take on Ohio State at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. The Big Ten semifinals on Friday, May 1 and Championship game on Sunday, May 3 will also be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
AUTH'S AWESOME START
Senior attacker Maria Auth is off to a strong start in 2020, with a team-high 28 points including 18 goals and 10 assists. She has at least three goals and four points in each game this season and has at least six points in three games.
She ranks 15th in the country in points and leads the Big Ten with 5.6 points per game, good for 10th in the nation. She's also 24th in the country in goals and 29th in assists.
Auth now has 22 career games with three or more goals. She has 122 goals and 53 assists through 60 career games. She reached the 150-point mark in the win over Towson.
SUPLEE LEADING STRONG DEFENSE
Penn State ranks third in the country and leads the Big Ten with a .574 save percentage.
Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Suplee is a major part of the defensive success. She made a career-high 20 saves in the win over Cornell, including 16 in the first half. Her previous high was 18 against Maryland in the Big Ten Semifinals. It was PSU's first 20-save performance since 2007. She has the only 20-save performance in Division I this season. For her efforts against Cornell, Suplee earned her second Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award this season.
She leads the Big Ten in save percentage (.574), saves (66), saves per game (13.2) and groundballs per game (4.00). She is also third in goals-against average (11.24). Suplee sits fourth in the country in save percentage, fifth in total saves and second in saves per game. Suplee has 13 career double-digit save efforts.
BALANCED OFFENSIVE ATTACK
The Nittany Lions have benefitted from a balanced scoring attack, including 14 different players with at least one goal this season. Penn State ranks 18th in the country averaging 15.2 goals per game. PSU's 64 goals through the first four games were its most since 2017 (70 goals).
Sophia Triandafils follows Auth's team lead with 12 goals. Quinn Nicolai has nine goals, while Lauren Craft, Yasmain Hamood, Mary Muldoon and Kristin Roberto each have six. Auth leads the team with 10 assists.
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.
Sophomore Lauren Craft