Penn State Upsets No. 11 Hofstra 11-10 in OT
from press release
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Persistence paid of for
the Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team Saturday night at Jeffrey
Field as it pulled off the 11-10 overtime win against visiting No.
11 Hofstra. The victory marked the first CAA win of the season for
the Nittany Lions, who are now 2-9 (1-2 CAA) on the year. With the
loss, Hofstra falls to 7-4 (1-3 CAA). Freshman Nick Dolik
(Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) got the game-winner in overtime, one of
three goals on the day, while Matt Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.)
added four.
Penn State got on the scoreboard first for the third game in a row,
jumping out to a 1-0 lead a little over two minutes into the game
on a goal from freshman Kyle VanThof (Penfield, N.Y.). The man-up
goal was assisted by freshman Billy Gribbin (Rockville, Md.).
Hofstra answered when Stephen Bentz netted an unassisted goal at
the 9:51 mark in the first quarter, knotting the game at 1-1.
PSU leading scorer Matt Mackrides got his first of four goals on
the day with 2:28 remaining in the quarter to take the lead back,
2-1. Pride attackman Jay Card tied the game again 47 seconds before
the quarter ended, making it 2-2 on his unassisted score.
The teams entered the second quarter even, and the game would stay
that way as the defenses ruled for over six minutes to start the
quarter. Hofstra broke the stalemate when Jamie Lincoln started a
five-goal Pride run. Steve DeNapoli and Brad Loizeaux also each had
a goal in the run with Kevin Ford adding two scores to push the
margin to a 7-2 Hofstra advantage. The Nittany Lions weren't done,
however, as a pair of goals from Mackrides brought Penn State
within three goals, 7-4, before halftime.
Penn State fought hard in the third quarter, chipping away at the
Hofstra advantage one goal at a time. More offensive magic from
Mackrides started the scoring for Penn State in the third quarter
at the 10:41 mark. The man-up goal came on an assist from
redshirt-senior Chris Hogan (Wykoff, N.J.), bringing the Nittany
Lions within two goals, 5-7. After another six minutes of scoreless
lacrosse, freshman Nick Dolik added another score for Penn State
off a feed from Van Thof. Penn State's five-goal run was capped-off
by a goal from Hogan, tying the game at 7-7 and bringing the
Jeffrey Field crowd of 657 to their feet.
Loiseaux drew the Pride ahead by a goal again when he netted an
unassisted goal with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter. PSU's
Dolik found the net next, however, as the see-saw battle continued.
The 8-8 tie was the fourth of the day, but the drama was not
over.
Penn State took the lead for the first time since the first quarter
when senior Anthony Basciano (Holtsville, N.Y.) scored his first
goal of the day and gave the Nittany Lions a 9-8 lead. Hofstra
scored the next two goals on conversions from Ford, his third of
the day, and Lincoln, his second.
With 2:34 remaining in regulation, the Nittany Lions charged back
to tie the game at 10 a piece, on Gribbin's first goal of the day.
Dolik assisted on the goal and despite some good chances, the game
went into overtime. The game was the second overtime contest for
the Nittany Lions and after dropping the first overtime game to
Ohio State 11-10, Penn State was looking for a reversal of
fortune.
With the game hanging in the balance, the first team to score would
go away victorious. Penn State won the face-off, and freshman Dolik
took control and scored the game-winning goal 50 seconds into the
overtime. The Nittany Lions swarmed the night's hero in the corner
of the field in celebration while the Hofstra reaction proved to be
quite different after the upset was complete.
"This is a great win," said Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel. "The
couple goals we got at the end of the first half gave us enough
energy to lead into the second half.
"I'm proud of our defense. They took Hofstra out of their rhythm.
(Goalkeeper Dave) Baker was solid in the second half and I knew if
we could stick around we had a chance to win and we won."
