UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 25 Penn State women's lacrosse earns final-second, 13-12 victory from a Nealon to Nealon sister goal. The final score is 13-12, moving the Nittany Lions to 6-2, 1-0 Big Ten and dropping Towson to 4-3, 0-0 CAA.
Junior Gretchen Gilmore led the Penn State offense with four goals, sealing her hat trick in just the first quarter. Sophomore Lauren Saltz held strong in the circle with eight draw controls.
First Quarter
Meghan Murray got the Nittany Lions offense going early, 45 seconds into the game with a goal off a free position shot. Three unanswered Towson goals to follow gave the Tigers a two-goal advantage at 3-1.
Gilmore narrowed the margin to 3-2 with an unassisted goal. A quick response from Towson's Milana Zizakovicgave the Tigers another two-goal lead.
Kristin O'Neill got her first goal of the day with 6:19 to play from a free position, bringing the total to 4-3.
The Tigers got their final point before their scoring drought with just over three minutes left to play in the quarter to make the score 5-3. The Nittany Lions began, what would become a 6-0 scoring run, with two goals from Gilmore and one from Brooke Hoss to put Penn State ahead 6-5 after 15 minutes of play.
Second Quarter
A scoreless five minutes was ended by Emma Kelly to continue the Nittany Lions scoring run and give them a 7-5 edge with 9:44 on the clock. Alaina Hamood was the next to contribute a goal in a man-up situation.
O'Neill found the back of the cage for the second time on the day with 1:41 to play in the half on another free position. Towson managed to sneak one in with just over a minute left to make the halftime score 9-6, Penn State still holding the lead.
Third Quarter
Towson came out of halftime hot scoring four unanswered goals to take back the edge and bring the score to 10-9.
Hoss broke up the Tigers scoring stretch off an assist from Regan Nealon to tie the score at 10-10 with 3:05 to play in the third period.
Towson grabbed the lead back on a free position shot but the Nittany Lions would have the final word of the quarter to knot the score once again at 11-11 following a goal from Gilmore.
Fourth Quarter
Towson was the first to find the back of the net in the final quarter with just under 10 to play and took the lead.
A goal from Brooke Barger off an assist from Murray marked the sixth tie of the game, this time at 12-12.
The sister-to-sister connection from Regan Nealon to Kara Nealon created the story book ending with 45 seconds on the clock to conclude the game with a 13-12 Penn State win.
OF NOTE
- Gilmore earned her first hat trick of the season, totaling 36 in her career.
- O'Neill increased her scoring streak to 12 games and is now just seven goals shy of 100 career goals.
- Saltz posted a career high eight draw controls.
- Ashley Bowan earned a personal best three ground balls and made six saves.
- The Nittany Lions outshot the Tigers 37-27.
UP NEXT
Penn State travels to No. 14 Princeton for a top-25 match-up on Saturday, March 18. First draw is set for noon at Sherrerd Field.