What started out as a highly promising season for Penn State‘s lacrosse squad ended with them going down swinging to the top seeded team in the nation. After beating the Princeton Tigers earlier this season, the Nittany Lions could replicate the same result against them when it mattered, losing 14-10. While the younger core of players couldn’t quite live up to their prior performances, one in particular kept them in this game till the very end.
Freshman goaltender Preston Hawkins had a phenomenal day in goal, with a career high 17 saves behind a unit doing everything they could to slow down one of the country’s best players in Nate Kabiri. While they did their job in terms of slowing him down, holding him to two assists, the problem came on the other end, where their attacking output slowed down. Sophomore Chase Robertson led the Nittany Lions with a hat trick, and Kyle Lehman and Liam Matthews also had multi-point games. But young stars such as Jack Iannantuono, Hunter Aquino and Andrew Beard could not step up around them.
Now, Penn State enters an offseason of even greater expectations, with a young squad now with NCAA tournament experience ready for redemption. It will all come down to whether or not there could be a bit of regression, but for now, the Nittany Lions are in a great place to build on a solid year from their underclassmen.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Penn State lacrosse falls short in NCAA quarterfinals