Hicks, Irish Subdue Penn State
from staff reports
Junior attackman Neal Hicks (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School)
notched a career-high seven points on four goals and three assists
to help the No. 8 Notre Dame men's lacrosse team to a 13-8 victory
over Penn State on Sunday afternoon inside Holuba Hall.
Notre Dame (2-0) jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 8:37 mark of the
first quarter behind man-up goals from Ryan Hoff (Baldwin,
Md./Dulaney) and Grant Krebs (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's). Hoff and
Krebs both had two goals on the day. Hicks, who assisted on the
Krebs goal, made it 3-0 in favor of the Fighting Irish by the end
of the first period. Mike Creighton (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep)
picked up the assist on Hicks' first goal. Creighton also had a
game-high eight ground balls.
Penn State (0-2) cracked the scoring column with 10:41 remaining in
the first half as Chris Hogan netted a man-up goal. The Irish
responded with a Duncan Swezey (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) goal
to make it 4-1 at the 5:24 mark. Following a Nittany Lion goal from
Brian Shea, Hicks gave Notre Dame a 5-2 lead at halftime when he
scored off a feed from Krebs with 1:56 left on the clock.
The second half started with a flurry as both teams combined for
five goals in just over four minutes of play. Penn State trimmed
the Irish lead to one (5-4) on goals from Conrad Ridgway (man-up)
and Jack Forster.
Notre Dame answered with five straight tallies to take control of
the contest. The surge began with a Hoff goal with three minutes
elapsed in the half. Sophomore David Earl (Simsbury,
Conn./Westminster School) then scored 35 seconds later and Hicks
gave the Fighting Irish an 8-4 lead with 10:55 remaining in the
third period. Senior Dan Gibson (Germantown, Tenn./Memphis
University School) assisted on the score from Hicks. A man-up goal
from junior Matt Ciambella (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park), off
an assist from Hicks, put Notre Dame on top 9-4 after three
quarters of play.
Sophomore Jake Marmul (Livonia, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central)
extended the Irish run early in the fourth quarter with the first
goal of his collegiate career. Scores from Forster and Hogan made
it a 10-6 game with 6:17 remaining. Krebs put the Irish back up by
five with 5:44 left on the clock. Penn State scores from Rob
Forster and Colton Vosburgh made it an 11-8 contest with just under
three minutes left to play.
Hicks put the cap on his four-goal effort as he scored with 1:46
left in regulation. The junior then assisted on a Davey Melera
(Timonium, Md./Boys' Latin) goal with 19 seconds remaining that
produced the final outcome. The four goals and three assists were
career-best numbers for Hicks, who collected a hat trick in the
season-opening win against Loyola last weekend.
Notre Dame held a 42-40 edge in shots on the afternoon. Senior
goalie Scott Rodgers (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) made a career-high
20 saves to collect his second win of the season. Rodgers was aided
by starting defensemen Regis McDermott (Amityville,
N.Y./Chaminade), Sam Barnes (Branford, Conn./Branford) and Kevin
Ridgway (Kensington, Md./Georgetown Prep) in holding their second
straight opponent to eight goals or less on the season.
