Penn State Holds on to Defeat Lehigh in Home Opener

Story posted February 17, 2020 in CommRadio, Sports by Neil Conley

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women’s lacrosse secured a 13-9 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Saturday, thanks to a dominant first half performance.

The Nittany Lions now have a 2-0 record overall, as they handed the Mountain Hawks their first loss of the season. The Mountain Hawks now have a 2-1 overall record.

Lehigh struck first, but Penn State scored seven unanswered goals to take control of the game in the first half. Penn State built its lead off of Lehigh's mistakes. The Nittany Lions took advantage of the Mountain Hawks’ nine fouls and 11 turnovers, while only committing six fouls and eight turnovers themselves.

Throughout the game, Penn State played with a much faster tempo, keeping Lehigh’s defense off-balance. Lehigh began to narrow the gap towards the end of the first half. At the intermission, Penn State lead 8-3.

Penn State’s speed and aggression helped in dominating the time of possession, which created more scoring chances. The second half was different for both teams.

The Mountain Hawks outscored the Nittany Lions 6-5 along with committing only five fouls and six turnovers. The Nittany Lions had five fouls as well and eight turnovers. With the amount of mistakes made by the Nittany Lions in the second half, the Mountain Hawks were able to capitalize. The exact opposite of what occurred in the first half.

Lehigh was a completely different team in the second half, which made the game turn from a potential blowout into something more interesting. Penn State lead 11-5 at one point during the second half, but Lehigh battled back scoring four goals to Penn State’s one changing the score to 12-9.

Lehigh’s last goal was scored on an empty net as Penn State’s goalkeeper, Taylor Suplee, committed a foul that took her away from the goal.
Penn State’s final goal was scored by Sophia Triandafils that increased its lead to 13-9. Triandafils thought it helped the team’s energy.

“I mean I just get really hyped and especially when it’s a goal that means a lot. We were losing momentum a little bit, so to get that goal back kind of brought the momentum back,” Triandafils said.

Penn State’s next game is at home against Duquesne on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Meanwhile, Lehigh travels to Vanderbilt for its next game on Saturday, Feb. 22. 

Neil Conley is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email nzc5252@psu.edu.