COLUMBUS, Ohio — The ninth-ranked Penn State men’s lacrosse team (12-3, 3-2 Big Ten) faced a tough, two-goal setback in the semifinal round of the Big Ten tournament, falling 8-6 to the top-ranked Maryland Terrapins (11-3, 4-1 Big Ten) at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Thursday evening.
Despite outshooting the Terrapins, Penn State scored six goals on 35 total shots.
On the offensive end, freshman attackman Mac O’Keefe and sophomore midfielder Kevin Hill paced the Nittany Lions with two goals apiece. O’Keefe now sits two goals shy of the program record in single-season goals, while Hill logged his fifth multi-goal game of the season.
Senior attackman Nick Aponte and classmate Dan Craig each tallied a goal as well. Aponte, senior midfielder Matt Florence and sophomore attackman Grant Ament each logged assists during the 60 minutes as well.
Craig’s goal was his second man-up score of the season, while one of Hill’s goals came during an extra man opportunity as well. Hill leads Penn State with seven extra-man goals.
Senior midfielder Billy Lombardi anchored the faceoff ‘x’ for Penn State, going 9-of-18 at the dot.
The Nittany Lions defense led to 11 miscues from the Terrapins. Rookie goalie Colby Kneese made five saves in the loss.
A likely NCAA tournament at-large bid recipient, the Nittany Lions will find out their postseason fate at 9 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, on the NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament selection show, airing on ESNPU. The show will be hosted by Anish Shroff, Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra.