Penn State women's lacrosse secures the 12-10 victory over Rutgers

There’s a saying about sunshine coming after rain, but a day full of on-and-off rain did not hold up when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights faced the Penn State Nittany Lions under the lights at Panzer Stadium on Thursday.

The scoring opened with Brooke Hoss bouncing one past Rutgers’ goalie Lexie Coldiron on a free position to go up 1-0 just 46 seconds in.

Delainey Sutley fired right back with a goal of her own just under a minute later to knot the game up, setting the tone for the rest of the first quarter.

Michelle Warren would follow Sutley’s goal by sniping one past Sydney Manning to make it a 2-1 Rutgers lead. Then, Kelly MacKinney would continue the back-and-forth by scoring her eighth goal of the year on a free position while also man-up to make it 2-2.

Despite the clear weather at the start of the game, the rain began to fall as Lauren Saltz went top-shelf over Coldiron to give Penn State the 3-2 lead heading into the second quarter.

The rain turned from a soft drizzle to pouring down as Rutgers continued the action by going tic-tac-toe on a goal from Hilary Elsner for her 15th of the year, tying the game for the third time to that point.

Wind began to alter the direction of the rain, causing it to start raining sideways, but that wasn’t stopping Saltz, who fired a quick shot at the net and scored to get her second of the night and to give Penn State a lead that it would not surrender the rest of the night.

Elise Smigiel followed Saltz’s goal with one of her own to make it a two-goal lead, with Ava Chiarella of Rutgers scoring on a free position to make it a one-goal game yet again at 5-4.

Saltz took that two-goal lead right back, scoring another goal to give her a hat-trick on the night. She also concluded the scoring in the first half by scoring off the rebound of an Erika Ho free position, giving her four goals on the night and Penn State the lead, 7-4.

This also marked Saltz's second four-goal game in the Nittany Lions' last three matchups.

Coming out of the half, Rutgers scored quickly on a goal from Caroline Ling, but Saltz fired back once again with her fifth goal of the night.

“It feels great [to have this success recently.] It’s definitely helpful; as I said, going into the Big Ten playing and being able to come out here and produce and be here for my teammates has been huge,” Saltz said. “I honestly can’t give any more credit to my teammates than I do; they are single-handedly the reason why I’m able to come out here and produce.”

After Saltz’s fifth, Ho scored her first of the night, giving Penn State a 9-5 lead, which would eventually balloon to 12-6 by the end of the third quarter.

Just as it felt like Penn State was ready to put the nail in the coffin, Ling opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with her second goal to make the score 12-7. Then, Samantha Swanovich scored two goals within 30 seconds to cut even deeper into the Nittany Lions’ lead, making it a three-goal game.

Alexa Corbin then scored the fourth unanswered goal of the quarter, prompting a timeout call from Penn State head coach Missy Doherty to talk to the team and re-evaluate the situation.

“Sometimes when those things are happening, we don’t take care of the ball as much as we should, so we just wanted to relax ourselves, move the ball, see each other. Take care of the ball, and we win the game,” Doherty said.

That’s just what the Nittany Lions did, winning 12-10 over the Scarlet Knights and securing their third straight victory as they push through the final few games of the season.

Up Next:

Penn State hosts the Ohio State Buckeyes at noon on Sunday for Youth Lacrosse Day on April 6.

The Nittany Lions then get a week-long break before Senior Day on April 13, when they face the No. 18 USC Trojans at 1:00 p.m. in Panzer Stadium. They finish the regular season on the road at No. 4 Johns Hopkins on Wednesday, April 16, at 6:00 p.m.

Dylan Sechrist is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dks5749@psu.edu.