Nittany Lions Down Drexel 22-9

Story posted March 14, 2018 in CommRadio, Sports by Jerome Taylor

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The No. 17 Nittany Lions dominated at every facet of lacrosse in the last game before conference play on Wednesday, defeating the Drexel Dragons 22-9 at Panzer Stadium.

The Nittany Lions (5-3) looked to score early and often against the Drexel Dragons (1-6) as they scored 7 goals within the first ten minutes of play. After the Dragons started the scoring with a goal by Caroline Cummings at the 28:17 mark, Penn State responded with a 7-1 run to give them a 7-2 lead at the 20-minute mark.

The Nittany Lions were looking to continue their momentum from Sunday’s 17-7 victory over then no. 24 Albany. That confidence fed into this game and allowed Penn State to be aggressive on the offensive side leading to 26 first-half shots.

Junior, Madison Carter helped her squad win the possession battle winning five draw controls in the first half and was a big reason why Penn State was able to play in the offensive end so frequently.

Penn State thoroughly dominated the Dragons in the first half by sophomore Maria Auth who netted four of her career-high six goals in the first half.

“Our offense as a whole was cooking,” Auth said of her big game, “Whenever I have a good day or anyone has a good day it means our team as a whole is doing well.”

Her team did have a good day, especially in the first half as Carter and junior, Delaney Muldoon both added multiple goals in the first half (three for Carter and two for Muldoon). Penn State further spread the scoring love out as five other Nittany Lions found the back of the net in the first half.

The Nittany Lions scoring attack was on full display in the first half, but their defense also came up big, and caused nine turnovers and only allowed five goals.

“I think our defense is really starting to click,” freshman, Quinn Nicolai said, “Today we got a lot of those hustle plays… and it's awesome having those momentum plays that get us going for the rest of the game.”

The Nittany Lions played well enough in the first half to give themselves a 14-5 lead which proved to be insurmountable.

After scoring four straight goals to end the first half the Nittany Lions four straight another four straight to start the second which the forced the referees to start a running a clock. Drexel tried to claw back in the second half scoring three straight after the run by Penn State but by then it was too late.

Penn State was able to get a lot of substitutions in the game, and by the end of the game, 13 different Nittany Lions had scored at least one goal.

Back-to-back strong performances for the Nittany Lions will surely have their confidence high as they go into conference play.

Penn State’s next game is the conference season opener against Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday at 12 p.m. at High Points Solution Stadium.

 

 

Jerome Taylor is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jerometaylor91697@gmail.com.