Pitt
1-2
Penn State
2-1
Moran's Career-High 14 Saves Not Enough as Panthers Fall at PSU
2/20/2024 8:12:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Pitt Lacrosse fell victim to another slow start Tuesday afternoon at Panzer Stadium as the Panthers dropped a cross-state battle to No. 22 Penn State 13-5.
The Panthers had offensive opportunities in the first quarter but were unable to convert, seeing three shots hit off the pipe and a few others miss wide. Penn State capitalized on the mishaps and scored four of their own to take control of the contest.
The second period was a much more even affair, but the Nittany Lions scored the opening two to put the pressure on the Panthers right away. Down 6-0, senior Emily Coughlin fought through traffic and scored a goal Pitt had to have with 8:28 left in the half. Both teams had chances to score but possessions were left open ended until PSU leading goal scorer Kristin O'Neill scored her second of the game to make it 7-1. The Panthers did convert an efficient and effective fastbreak opportunity with time running out in the first thirty minutes as defender Rachel Familetti sent a long pass to Emily Coughlin who found Ava Washington cutting to goal. Washington caught the ball and fired quickly to beat the goalie and score with only eight seconds remaining.
Unfortunately any momentum from the last-second goal was squandered coming out of the locker room, as Penn State scored the next three to bring the score to 10-2 in the home team's favor. Freshman Avery Moon scored her second goal of 2024 after a nice circle around the crease, but that was the only visitor goal in the third. O'Neill added her fourth of the night to extend the PSU lead to eight going into the final frame.
The last fifteen minutes of the game did end 2-2 with Pitt goals from Jenna Hendrickson and Maureen McNierney, but as was the story for the rest of the night, the Panthers shots were not converted to goals frequently enough.
Draw controls ended 11-11, but Pitt lost the ground ball category 20-8 and finished 0-7 from the free position. Graduate goalie finished the game with a career-high 14 saves and a .519 save percentage to give the Panthers as good of a chance defensively as she could.
Next up for Pitt is a three-game homestand featuring matchups with No. 1 Boston College (2/24), Detroit Mercy (2/26) and Louisville (3/2). The first 200 fans in attendance this Saturday will receive a Pitt Lacrosse branded lacrosse ball.
