Blue Hens Battle Back in Second Half Behind King but Fall to No. 12 Penn State 12-6
March 10, 2012
_lg.jpg)
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell
NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware women’s lacrosse team played No. 12 Penn State even up in the second half, but a six-goal halftime deficit was too much to overcome as the Blue Hens dropped a 12-6 non-league verdict to the Nittany Lions at chilly Delaware Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Despite the loss, the Blue Hens (2-5) got a huge effort from senior attack Blair King (at right), who tallied her first career hat trick by scoring three goals, including two in the second half, to pace the Delaware effort. King was playing for the first time since Feb. 25 after missing three games with a knee injury.
The Blue Hens, who have played shorthanded much of this season due to several injuries, played without the services of leading scorer, freshman Caitlin McCartney, who was injured in the Hens’ setback to UMBC on Wednesday. McCartney leads the Hens in goals (12), groundballs (16), draw controls (17), and caused turnovers (9).
Allison Hahn and Abbie Hartman (at left) each added a goal and an assist for the Blue Hens with Leigh Kaminski scoring her first career goal for the Hens’ other tally. Blue Hen goalkeepers Alex Zaugra and Tori Zorovich combined for six saves with Zorovich holding Penn State scoreless in her 11 minutes of action.
_lg.jpg)
“We are disappointed with the loss but we were happy with some small victories today,” said Delaware head coach Kateri Linville. “It took some time for us to settle into the game today but when we did we found away to stay competitive. It was good to see some different people step up today, especially the strong showing we got from Blair. Defensively we got some great stops in the second half and that created some momentum.”
Penn State (5-2), which bounced back from an overtime loss to Loyola Wednesday, won for the third time in the last four games as Maggie McCormick scored three goals and dished out two assists, Theresa Zichelli scored three goals, Mackenzie Cyr and Kelly Lechner each scored twice, and Tatum Coffey contributed a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper Dana Cahill posted nine saves.
Penn State held a 25-19 advantage in shots for the game but had just one more than the Hens in the second stanza. Penn State had just one more groundball than Delaware for the game and the teams were even in draw controls at 10 each. Delaware converted just 9 of 16 clear attempts and Penn State took advantage of its six free position shots, scoring four times.
The Nittany Lions scored the first three goals of the game before King scored for the first time for Delaware with 21:28 left in opening half. Penn State then reeled off five straight goals before Kaminski’s goal with nine seconds left cut the lead to 8-2 at the break.
The teams then traded goals for the remainder of the afternoon as Delaware could never get closer than six goals. Delaware’s Hahn tallied with 11:28 left to play but neither team scored again.
Delaware will look to get back in the win column this Wednesday when the Hens travel to 17th-ranked Loyola to start a six-game road swing.
Back To Women's Lacrosse Home Women's Lacrosse Story Archive
