Shane Sturgis and Matthew Mackrides led the No. 11 ranked Penn State men’s lacrosse team to an 8-3 win over Towson on Saturday. The Nittany Lions (7-5, 3-1 Colonial Athletic Association) now sit in second place in the CAA behind No.1/2 Massachusetts.
Mackrides and Sturgis each recorded a hat trick in Penn State’s third straight victory, while sophomore Austin Kaut starred in net with 13 saves.
The Nittany Lions suffocated the Tigers on defense as Towson capitalized on just three of its 28 shot attempts. In addition, the Tigers turned the ball over 15 times.
However, one of the most important aspects of the game was PSU’s advantage on faceoffs, as it won 10 to Towson’s four.
Penn State’s last loss came on March 27 at home against Bucknell (9-5).
The Nittany Lions rebounded from that loss with a 13-8 win against Villanova on March 31. Senior attacker Jack Forster led PSU with five points and Kaut stopped 17 shots, in the win over the Wildcats (8-4).
Penn State then defeated in-state foe Drexel, 10-9 on April 7. The Nittany Lions out shot Drexel (5-7), 36-32 and scored seven second half goals to overcome a 7-3 deficit.
Penn State will look for a fourth straight win as it hosts Delaware (6-7, 1-3 CAA) this Saturday at 7 p.m.
Drexel preps for big game
After two straight losses, the first coming against Penn State, the second against UMass, Drexel coach Brian Voelker and his team are looking for redemption.
Leading scorers Robert Church and Brendan Glynn were kept at bay, as the Minutemen (11-0, 4-0 CAA) won, 8-6, in the Battle of Bethpage.
Church (32 points) and Glynn (34 points) combined to take seven shots and scored zero points in the match.
However, the Dragons are primed to turn up the heat on Saturday when they travel to Baltimore, M.D., to take on Towson.
Drexel currently sits one spot ahead Towson in the CAA standings, and Saturday’s game will prove to be a crucial one for as both teams look to position themselves for a spot in the CAA playoffs.
A big factor in the game will be the play of Drexel’s goalkeeper Mark Manos, the first two-time All-American since Lynn Ferguson in 1971.
The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Pride of Long Island
Hofstra freshman Tyler Begley has been named the CAA Men’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Week.
This is the second time the East Islip, N.Y., native received the honor this season, with his first award coming on March 19.
The Pride (6-6) are currently on the fringe of the national ranks, and sit in fifth place in the CAA standings.
Junior midfielder Adrian Sorichetti and sophomore attacker Lance Yapor leads the team in scoring with 38 and 30 points, respectively. They combined for a total of eight points in ESPNU’s Warrior Classic against North Carolina (9-4) last Saturday.
However, Sorichetti and Yapor’s efforts were not enough as Hofstra fell to the Tar Heels, 9-12, a loss that brought its two-game winning streak to a halt after a late fourth quarter rally that saw the No. 8 Tar Heels tally five unanswered goals.
It was the Pride’s 10th meeting with North Carolina in a series that stretches back to 1978. Despite the loss, Hofstra still holds the 6-4 series advantage. The last time they beat UNC was a 6-5 victory in 2006 on Long Island.
This Saturday, the Pride’s will play UMass at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
A win against the Minutemen would go a long way for Hofstra in its attempt to squeeze into the playoff picture.
Peter Cappiello can be reached at [email protected].
