Penn State Nips Binghamton in Tambroni's Debut
from press release
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's
lacrosse team, playing its first game under new head coach Jeff
Tambroni, scored four fourth period goals and held off visiting
Binghamton 9-7 in the 2011 season opener for both teams. Junior
Matthew Mackrides (Newtown Square, Pa.) scored four points to lead
Penn State.
Penn State scored the game's first two goals in the first minute,
getting unassisted efforts from Nick Dolik (Bloomfield Hills,
Mich.) at the 14:51 mark and Mackrides less than a minute later at
14:09. Binghamton answered however, getting two goals from Matt
Springer to send the game into the second period tied 2-2.
The Bearcats took their first lead of the game on a Brandon Planck
score with 10:08 left in the second stanza, but Penn State reeled
off three straight goals to retake the lead. Mackrides tied the
game at 3-3 with a score off a Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.)
assist with 6:11 on the clock and Tom LaCrosse (Canandaigua, N.Y.)
put Penn State ahead with an assist from Kyle VanThof (Penfield,
N.Y.) just over a minute later. Colton Vosburgh (Kennett Square,
Pa.) gave the Nittany Lions a 5-3 lead with 4:13 left in the half
with an unassisted goal. Binghamton cut into Penn State's lead with
just 0:01 left in the half when Springer scored his third goal of
the game off a Tyler Perrelle assist.
With Penn State leading 5-4 at the break, Binghamton scored the
only goal of the third period, with Springer tallying his fourth
score at the 11:04 mark to tie the game at 5-5. The contest
remained deadlocked for the remainder of the third period.
Binghamton took its second lead of the game just 0:30 into the
fourth quarter when David Raleigh scored unassisted. But Penn State
quickly answered, getting an unassisted goal from Sturgis at the
13:47 mark to tie the contest at 6-6. VanThof then broke the tie
with the game's only man-up goal. VanThof took a Billy Gribbin
(Rockville, Md.) pass and found the back of the net with 10:48 left
in the game to give Penn State a 7-6 lead. The Lions would never
trail again. Mackrides tacked on a goal off a Vosburgh assist with
8:55 left to put the Lions up 8-6. Perrelle scored for Binghamton
at the 5:23 mark and then Billy Lloyd (West Chester, Pa.) took a
Mackrides pass and scored with 1:53 left in the game to ice the
contest and give the Nittany Lions a victory in Tambroni's first
game as head coach at Penn State.
Mackrides' four points was backed up by two each from Sturgis,
VanThof and Vosburgh. Freshman goalie Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) was
outstanding in goal for Penn State. Kaut, in his first career
start, collected 10 saves and gave up only seven goals. Playing all
60:00 for the Nittany Lions, Kaut also had two ground balls. Dolik
led Penn State with eight ground balls while sophomore Danny
Henneghan (Beverly Hills, Mich.) was nearly perfect on face-offs.
Henneghan took all 19 for the Nittany Lions and won 16 times. He
also had four ground balls. As a team, Penn State won the ground
ball war, notching 34 to Binghamton's 25. The Nittany Lions
committed 21 turnovers to 18 for BU.
Penn State, coming off a 2-11 year, is now 1-0 on the year, 0-0 in
Colonial Athletic Association action. The season opening win marks
the first time since 2008 that Penn State has won its first game of
the season. Binghamton, which went 4-10 last season, is 0-1. The
Nittany Lions will entertain No. 7 Notre Dame next Sunday, Feb. 27,
at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Bigler Field unless otherwise
announced.
