UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State women's lacrosse downs Bucknell 16-6 in its season opener at Panzer Stadium. The Nittany Lions keep their win streak alive against the Bison, notching their 20th consecutive win in a 20-0 series.
Head coach Missy Doherty said, "We did some really good things today, I think it was a strong start for the team. We did a good job of scoring in transition, which is something we have focused on."
Junior captain Kristin O'Neill led the offense with six goals on 10 shots and seven points. Sammy Dupcak also contributed a strong performance with five ground balls, six caused turnovers and four draw controls.
Doherty selects Dupcak as the first Gritty Nitty Award winner of the season. Doherty says, "Sammy did a great job all over the field today, coming up with draw controls and then ground balls and caused turnovers in the defensive end."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter:
The Bison began the game with two early goals leaving the Nittany Lions trailing 2-0 after the first five minutes of play. Kara Nealon got the Penn State offense started with a goal to bring the score to 2-1. After winning the next draw control, Penn State added another goal from Emma Kelly to tie it up.
The Nittany Lions went on to score four more unanswered goals to finish the quarter up 6-2. O'Neill score three of the four and sophomore Brooke Hoss contributed the fourth.
Second Quarter:
O'Neill began the second quarter fast, winning the draw control and taking the ball straight to goal for Penn State's seventh and her fourth. Kara Nealon got back in on the scoring with her second on the day off an assist from O'Neill.
Bucknell added another score to its total at three but was immediately quieted by Kelly on the Penn State offense making the score 8-3, forcing Bucknell to take a timeout.
Following the draw control won by Kayla Abernathy, O'Neill was ready to press on the offensive side. She scored her fifth goal on the day to bring the team total to 10. The Tewaaraton Award Watch List honoree was responsible for half of the Penn State goals in the back of the net at this point in the game.
Some back and forth play throughout the second period consisted of ground ball pick-ups from Dupcak, O'Neill and Brooke Barger.
Third Quarter:
An early goal from Bucknell's Katie Brown was the lone goal for the first 10 minutes of the third period. Back-to-back goals from Gretchen Gilmore and O'Neill extended the Nittany Lions' lead to 12-4 at the conclusion of the quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
Hoss drew first blood in the final period of play with her second goal of the day. Dupcak snatched the following draw control to send it back up the field to allow Hoss another opportunity to score. This goal marked the third hat trick of her career for the sophomore.
Kara Nealon and Kelly managed to notch hat tricks by the end of the fourth quarter to lift the Nittany Lions to a 16-6 final score.
OF NOTE
- O'Neill topped her career high in goals scored in a single game with six on the day.
- Hoss, Kelly and Kara Nealon earned hat tricks.
- Dupcak notched a career high six caused turnover.
- Maddie Greco, Erika Ho, Kelly and Elise Smigiel made their Nittany Lions debut.
- Penn State outshot Bucknell 43-11.
- The Nittany Lions won the draw control battle 18-8.
- The defense earned 16 ground balls.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions host Drexel next Saturday, Feb. 18 at Panzer Stadium. First draw is set for 3 p.m.