UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.
(March 25, 2012) - The William and Mary lacrosse team led ninth-ranked Penn
State midway through the second half, but the Nittany Lions rallied back for a
9-7 victory on Sunday afternoon at PSU Lacrosse Field.
The tightly contested game featured four ties, and neither
team led by more than two goals at any point.
Junior Kyrstin Mackrides led the Tribe (2-8) with three
goals, while freshman Kaleigh Noon recorded two assists and a team-high three
draw controls. Defensively, senior Sarah Mulvey caused two turnovers and
totaled three ground balls, while freshman goalie Lucy Ferguson finished with a
game-high 11 saves.
Although Penn State (8-2) got on the scoreboard first with a
goal by Tatum Coffey less than a minute into play, the Tribe responded with a
3-0 run. Sophomore Jenna Dougherty provided the first goal off an assist from
Noon with 28:00 showing, while Mackrides found the back of the cage less than
three minutes later. Senior Maggie Anderson finished off the run midway through
the half off another assist from Noon.
PSU outscored the College, 2-1, during the remainder of the
half to narrow the margin to one, 4-3, at the intermission. Mackrides provided
the Tribe's goal during the stretch.
Ferguson came up big during the opening half, as she totaled
eight saves during the opening 30 minutes of action.
W&M struck first in the second stanza, as Mackrides
tallied her third goal of the afternoon with 24:36 remaining. However, PSU
answered with back-to-back goals by Molly Fernandez to knot the score at 5-5
with 20:19 on the clock.
The College reclaimed one-goal leads on two more occasions
following scores by senior Jenny Michael (17:23) and sophomore Taelor Salmon
(13:20), but PSU closed the game with three unanswered goals to secure the
comeback victory.
Penn State outshot W&M, 33-16, and owned a 23-15
advantage in ground balls, while each team totaled nine draw controls apiece.
Fernandez led Penn State with three goals, while Coffey and
Mackenzie Cyr both scored twice.
With its non-conference slate complete, the Tribe will begin
league play when it hosts Old Dominion next Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
