UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Senior Molly Fernandez (Baltimore, Md.) recorded her 100th career goal and junior Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.) tallied a team-high six points as the seventh-seeded Penn State women's lacrosse team edged Canisius, 14-13, in NCAA first-round action at the Penn State Lacrosse Field Friday night.
The Nittany Lions (13-6), who secured their first 13-win season since 1999, advanced to the second round of the NCAA championships and will face Massachusetts at the Penn State Lacrosse Field Sunday, May 12 at 1 p.m.
Cyr recorded her sixth hat trick of the season, while Fernandez netted two strikes to reach the 100-goal plateau. Four additional Nittany Lions, including sophomores Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) and Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) and freshmen Ally Heavens (Garnet Valley, Pa.) and Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.), notched two-goal games. Freshman goalkeeper Emi Smith (Denver, Colo.) turned aside four shots for the victory.
After holding a 6-5 halftime lead, Penn State increased its advantage to 13-9 with 13:48 remaining before the Golden Griffins (14-5) staged their comeback. Canisius fought back with a 4-1 run, including a final tally with 12 seconds remaining in the game, to make it 14-13, but the Nittany Lions were able to run out the clock.
Penn State, which improved to 6-2 when hosting an NCAA tournament game, outshot the Golden Griffins by a 37-25 margin and earned 22 draws to Canisius' seven. The Nittany Lions went 12-for-12 on clears and 3-for-8 on free-position shots, while the Golden Griffins finished 15-for-18 and 2-for-10, respectively.
Penn State opened the contest on a 4-1 run within the first 12:34 of the game. Fernandez started the outburst with a quick strike 18 seconds after the initial draw before Cyr doubled the Nittany Lion advantage 5:26 later. After Tori Quinn halved the deficit with 21:09 left, Cyr and Heavens tallied with 18:19 and 17:26 left, respectively, to give Penn State a 4-1 lead.
The Golden Griffins ended the stanza on a 4-2 run as the Nittany Lions escaped the first half with a one-goal lead. Morgan Leonard and Lindsey Morgan netted markers in a 39-second span to make it a 4-3 game before Heavens tallied a free-position marker to extend the Penn State lead to 5-3. Canisius' Maria Kotas tallied with 9:08 left before Meghan Cuddy scored six minutes later. Lechner then tallied for the Nittany Lions with 59 seconds left in the frame.
In the second half, Leonard tallied two markers within the first 4:44 to give the Golden Griffins their only lead at 7-6, but Penn State responded with four straight goals. At 5:15, McCormick evened the game at 7-7 before Mosketti netted her first goal with 23:14 remaining. McCormick struck again to give Penn State a two-goal advantage before Fernandez scored her 100th career marker at 9:01 of the second.
After Canisius' Quinn stopped the run with 18:51 left, Mosketti and Cyr tallied in a 13-second span as the Nittany Lions took a 12-8 lead. The Golden Griffins then ended the game on a 5-2 run. Kotas brought Canisius to within three goals before sophomore midfielder Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) extended the Penn State advantage to 13-9 with 13:48 remaining.
With 5:38 left on the clock, Morgan made it a 13-10 game before Kotas and Cuddy brought Canisius to within one with 3:51 left. Lechner then tallied for Penn State with 2:42 left in the contest before Morgan scored for the Golden Griffins to account for the 14-13 final.