No. 4 Maryland women’s lacrosse drops home finale to No. 24 Penn State 12-11

Photo courtesy of Brieanna Andrews/Maryland Terrapins

Penn State needed a hero to pull off a comeback victory with the match tied at 10-10 and under six minutes remaining. Lauren Saltz rose to the occasion and scored her 10th goal of the year to grab the lead.

No. 24 Penn State (8-6, 3-2) defeated No. 4 Maryland (11-4, 4-2), 12-11, on Senior Day in the Terps’ third straight loss at home. 

The Nittany Lions used its free position chances to generate offense, scoring eight times from the spot. Kristin O’Neill and Gretchen Gilmore both scored hat tricks to lead the Penn State attack. 

“Defensively we put them on the eight meter more than we’ve ever put anybody on the eight meter,” Maryland coach Cathy Reese said. “We don’t typically give up 11 eight meters a game and that happened today and made it tough for us to stop them.”

Maryland won 14 of the 25 draws but could not dominate the faceoff the way it has for most of the year, a key factor to Penn State keeping the match close.

The Terps started fast and looked to vanquish their recent home woes. Libby May scored early in the first quarter and Hannah Leubecker added a second goal with a well-placed shot to the bottom corner of the net. 

Maryland continued its efficient shooting when Chrissy Thomas and Victoria Hensh scored on drives and extended the Terp’s lead to 4-1.

Maryland pushed the fast break to take on the Nittany Lions’ defense before they could get set. When Penn State forced the Terps to run their offense, Maryland used movement close to the net to score on high-percentage, close-range shots.

Leubecker and Thomas each added goals to keep the momentum rolling and give the Terps a 6-1 lead.

“The looks were there, we were working really hard and things just opened up for me which was great,” Thomas said. “My teammates did a great job of opening me up and getting open for me.”

Gretchen Gilmore scored early on a free position goal but Penn State’s attack soon stalled. The Nittany Lions endured a nearly 12-minute scoring drought before Gilmore added a second goal late in the first quarter.

The Terps’ disruptive defense forced 11 first-half turnovers from Penn State. Meghan Ball was a pest to the Penn State attack, forcing five turnovers in the middle of the Maryland zone.

The Nittany Lions’ leading scorer, Kristin O’Neill, scored a free position goal as time expired in the first quarter to cut the Maryland lead to 6-3. 

Both teams struggled to create opportunities in the second quarter as the defensive units tightened up. Chrissy Thomas scored the lone goal of the quarter to complete a first-half hat trick.

“We came out on fire and I loved our energy but then we got into just kind of a little bit of a funk, a shooting funk,” Reese said. “We were getting great looks on cage and had good opportunities but didn’t finish them.”

Penn State used free position chances to jumpstart its struggling offense in the third quarter. Saltz and O’Neill each scored less than a minute apart from the eight-meter mark to slash the Maryland lead to two.

The Terps struggled to play aggressive defense without picking up fouls. Penn State was awarded seven free position chances on seven Maryland third-quarter fouls. 

Kayla Abernathy and Gilmore continued Penn State’s momentum with free position goals. O’Neill cut towards the cage and slammed her shot past Sterling to tie the match at eight. 

Meghan Murray was awarded an eight-meter and faked out Sterling to grab the Nittany Lions’ first lead of the match.

Tensions were high in the fourth quarter as the sides traded goals back and forth. Murray added another but Eloise Clevenger answered by coming from behind the cage to beat the keeper. Clevenger added a second goal to tie the match again at 10. 

But Penn State’s attack seized the lead with goals from Saltz and Brooke Hoss, leaving the Terps with little time to attempt a comeback. Leubecker cut the lead to one with a top-corner goal with just under three minutes remaining. 

Maryland pulled Sterling out of the net and attempted to win the ball back from Penn State but the Nittany Lions were able to run out the clock.

With the loss, Maryland’s regular season home record falls to 3-4. The Terps are back on the road Wednesday against Princeton for the regular season finale.