March 11, 2008

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior Tim Driscoll (Montville, N.J.) registered multiple goals for the fourth time in five games this season but Villanova (1-4) was defeated 12-3 by Penn State (2-3) indoors on Tuesday night at Holuba Hall.

Driscoll led the Wildcats with seven shots taken and scored both of his goals in the fourth quarter. His first came on a pass from senior Jay Foley (Montauk, N.Y.) at the 12:11 mark to break a string of eight unanswered tallies by the Nittany Lions. Driscoll added an unassisted goal with 1:12 remaining in the game.

Junior Andrew DiLoreto (Wilton, Conn.) made 15 saves in goal for Villanova, which trailed 9-1 after the end of the third quarter. Penn State scored three times in each of the first three periods and owned a 34-9 shot advantage in that span. The 15 stops in goal established a new career-high for DiLoreto, who is in his second season as the starter in net for the Wildcats.

In the first period, Rob Forster scored a goal just 2:10 into the game to open the scoring for the Nittany Lions. Villanova had a quick answer, as sophomore Mark Scioscia (East Hampton, N.Y.) found the net just 32 seconds later to tie the game 1-1. Sophomore R.J. Lyons (Doylestown, Pa.) was credited with an assist on the Scioscia goal.

Penn State took over control of the game from there on out, however, taking the lead back midway through the opening stanza and adding a goal with 2:17 to play in the quarter to go ahead 3-1. The Nittany Lions outshot the Wildcats 14-2 in the second period and opened a 6-1 lead at halftime.

Ryan McAleenan led all players with three goals scored and was one of five Penn State players to score at least two goals in the contest. Forster and Colby Rhodes each had two assists for the Nittany Lions, whose shot advantage for the game came in at 39-20. Drew Adams earned the decision in goal for the Nittany Lions and made nine saves while playing the first 54:05 in the net.

Control and possession of the ball was dictated by Penn State throughout the contest. The Nittany Lions won 12-of-17 face-offs in the game and owned a 42-28 groundball margin. DiLoreto picked up five groundballs for Villanova and freshman defender John Lade (Randolph, N.J.) had four.

The Wildcats next game is a road contest at Lehigh at 1 p.m. this coming Saturday. The team's next home game is on Tuesday, March 18 against Ohio State.