Pull out the hip boots, it’s knee-deep mud lacrosse. Hobart, with an assist credited to Mother Nature, beat the men’s lacrosse team 11-8 Saturday in soggy Geneva, N.Y.
It had rained for almost three consecutive days in Geneva prior to the match, and it continued to pour throughout Saturday.
At first it looked as if the Lions were going to make a game of it. But then the Statesmen scored the first goal, and from that point on the Lions seemed to be just a stick in the mud.
For the rest of the game the Lions had to play catch-up, a style that Penn State is not well-suited for. The Lions brought the game to within a goal several times, but just couldn’t gain the edge they needed to win, attacker Kevin McGinley said.
“A catchup game is not the type of game that we wanted to be playing against Hobart, especially in the rain,” attacker Jamie Morse said. “The weather just better suited Hobart’s type of play.”
It wasn’t a lack of opportunity that troubled the Lions. They had 47 shots on goal for the game, but just weren’t hitting the mark.
By the end of the first quarter the Statesmen led the Lions, 3-2.
The weather made it a very slow, low-scoring game. The ball spent a lot of time in the mud. At the end of the first half the score was 5-3 in favor of Hobart.
Both teams came out for the second half with new life. The Lions, who seemed to have found their second wind, picked up the pace of the game. Both teams scored two third-quarter goals and the game went into the fourth with Hobart leading 7-5.
Almost two minutes into the fourth quarter Penn State scored again, and seemed to have the momentum that might carry them over the top.
A penalty brought Penn State’s momentum to a hault and Hobart capitalized with a power-play goal. Another Penn State penalty led to another power-play goal for Hobart.
Those two goals were the nail in the coffin for Penn State. The Statesmen marched on to score two additional goals.
“We just couldn’t hit the goals we need,” McGinley said. “We’re generally a physical team and the rain seriously cramped our style.”
McGinley led the Lions with 4 goals and Morse had three assists. Scoring the other goals for Penn State were Mike Busza, Chris Lehman, Greg Guarton and Ben Hood.
Penn State’s loss to Hobart has put the team in a must-win situation for the remainder of the season if it is to follow its dreams of being the first Penn State team to appear in the Northest Regional Tournament. The Lions will travel to Bucknell Wednesday.