Penn State Takes Down Rutgers on Senior Day
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State defeated Rutgers 18-7 on their Senior Day and final regular season game of 2019.
Penn State got on the scoreboard first with an electric goal from midfielder Kelly Daggett, which was quickly followed by a goal from midfielder Quinn Nicolai just a minute later with 22:58 to go in the first half.
Penn State nearly had a goal on a breakaway opportunity, but Rutgers fouled just before the shot was taken, wiping the score away. Maria Auth then lined up for a penalty shot shot and slipped the ball past the left side of Kameron Halsall.
Penn State would score not even a minute later when Katie Garvey scored her first goal of the season with 19:38 left in the first half. Kayla Brisolari would follow that goal up with one of her own to put the Nittany Lions up 5-0 a minute later.
Rutgers struggled to defend against the Nittany Lions early in this one. Penn State scored eight goals in the first fifteen minutes before Rutgers finally showed signs of life with a goal by midfielder Julia Lytle.
Rutgers scored again with 10 minutes to go, as Dakota Pastore scored on Rutgers eight shot attempt of the game.
Penn State entered halftime with a 13-2 lead after Katie Garvey scored a free position goal for her second of the season and of the game.
Rutgers did few things right on offense or defense in the opening half. The Scarlet Knights committed nine fouls, giving the Nittany Lions a bevy of additional offensive opportunities, fouling in large part because they couldn’t otherwise stop Penn State.
Penn State on the other hand, played a squeaky clean half, not committing a single foul.
Their offense was on full display, racking up 25 shot attempts, while Rutgers managed only 10.
Rutgers had a much better start to the second half, not losing a single draw control in the first 15 minutes of the half.
Rutgers scored four straight goals in the middle portion of the second half, with Amanda Romano, Marin Hartshorn, and Jordan Drab all scoring to help breath life into the Scarlet Knights in the second half.
The offensive flurry came in large part because of Rutgers winning nine draw-controls in the closing half, while Penn State won only two, a far cry from the dominant opening half Penn State had in terms of possession.
Penn State broke the scoring drought with Maria Auth’s second goal of the day , moving the score to 16-6 with 7:48 left to go in the game.
That late surge would push Penn State’s shooting total to 36, with Rutgers conversely never putting themselves in position to keep pace with the Nittany Lions offensively.
The Scarlet Knights did their best to clean up the penalties in the second half, only committing four, while Penn State had three.
Penn State has rallied to the conference tournament after a poor start to Big Ten play, and Head Coach Missy Doherty said that the team is happy to be in this position.
“We’re excited that it gives us another opportunity to compete, we’ve made the Big Ten tournament every year there’s been Big Ten Women’s lacrosse, so we’re excited about that,” Doherty said.
Jeremy Ganes is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jlg6097@psu.edu.
