April 28, 2006

Box Score

Villanova, Pa. - Villanova (5-9) scored the final two goals of regulation and held #15 Penn State (8-4) scoreless through the first overtime before falling short, as the Nittany Lions ultimately won 12-11 in double overtime this evening at Villanova Stadium.

"Anytime you lose a close game in double overtime is tough to take," noted coach Randy Marks. "We were in this one all the way. It would have been great to have some momentum going into our first round Colonial Athletic Association Tournament game next week."

The two teams were tied at 11 after Villanova scored the final two goals of the fourth quarter to erase a two-goal deficit. Junior Chris Mercer (Severna Park, Md.) buried a Matt Starker (Summit, N.J.) pass at 4:56 to cut PSU's lead to 11-10, and sophomore Matt Panneton (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored on a hard shot from 15 yards out off a pass from junior Mike Haas (North Wales, Pa.) to even the score.

Although both teams got quality, and at times wide open, scoring chances in the first OT, each team was held scoreless until 3:13 in the second when Heim dodged a Villanova defender and rifled a shot past senior goalie Joe Canuso (Moorestown, N.J.) for the game-winner.

Villanova drew first blood, scoring on a Tim Driscoll (Montville, N.J.) shot at 12:50 in the first, but Penn State recorded the next three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Villanova rallied and found the back of the net four straight times to take a 5-3 lead at 9:32 in the second quarter. Haas scored a man-up goal at 13:09 in the second to start the run. Driscoll's second goal of the game came at 11:33 after sophomore teammate Chris MacDonald (Westfield, N.J.) fought through good defense and passed in traffic to Driscoll in front of the cage. Starker scored falling down at 9:53, and freshman Matthew Fritts' (Dallas, Tex.) goal came at 9:32.

The Lions' scoring drought ended with a goal from Andrew Mackrides at 6:28, but the Wildcats managed to stay ahead until Nate Whitaker scored back-to-back goals at 11:55 and 6:54 in the third to tie the game at seven. Villanova retook the lead almost three minutes later on a convoluted play. Greg Gurenlian took a shot for the Lions, but it was saved by Canuso, who threw a Hail Mary pass downfield on the clear. Haas caught the pass and fed it to Driscoll who fired a shot past PSU's freshman net-minder Drew Adams.

'Nova went up 9-7 at 3:16 in the third, but the `Cats were called for having an illegal stick between the third and fourth quarters and were forced to kill a three-minute non-releasable penalty. Gurenlian scored at 14:30 to spark a four-goal Penn State rally that gave the Lions their 11-9 lead with 6:33 to go in the game. Gurenlian's goal was the only man-up goal in that span. The Wildcats killed two and a half of the three minute penalty.

Villanova out-shot Penn State 47-33 and won 46 groundballs to the Lions' 32. Adams made 17 saves in net for PSU, while Canuso stopped nine shots. The `Cats' penalty kill returned to form, as `Nova limited Penn State to one man up goal in five chances.

PSU now holds a 12-1 advantage in the all-time series. Villanova is 0-3 in overtime games this year and 0-5 against ranked teams.

Villanova honored its five seniors, Pat Bogle, Joe Canuso, Matt Cohen, Ben Remmey and Matt Starker in a brief pre-game ceremony.

Score

PSU 3 2 2 4 0 1 - 12

VU 1 5 3 2 0 0 - 11

Penn State SCORING: GOALS: Nate Whitaker 3, Pat Heim 2; Gil Pearsall 2; Matt Radecic 1; John Eremus 1; Bubba Scott 1; Greg Gurenlian 1; Andrew Mackrides 1. ASSISTS: Heim 2; Radecic 1; Matt Warner 1. SAVES: Adams 17. Villanova SCORING: GOALS: Tim Driscoll 3; Mike Haas 2; Matt Panneton 2; Matt Starker 1; Andy German 1; Matthew Fritts 1; Chris Mercer 1. ASSISTS: Haas 2; Chris MacDonald 2; Starker 2; Eric Heidenberger 1. SAVES: Canuso 9.