Late laxer goal finishes off Irish

By DAVID COMER
Collegian Sports Writer

Mike O'Keefe caught the ball in the middle of the field, about 20 feet from the goal. A defender was on his left, so he faked right before coming back left and firing a shot toward the goal.

Well, sort of. The shot wasn't exactly fired. O'Keefe described it as more of a "change up," but his less-than-perfect shot ended up being the game-winning goal. It came with 1 minute, 8 seconds remaining in yesterday's game in Holuba Hall, to give the No. 18 men's lacrosse team (1-0) a hard-fought 15-14 win over No. 16 Notre Dame (0-1).

"My hand slipped when I shot the ball," O'Keefe said. "It wasn't really the best shot, but it went in. It was probably the biggest goal of my life."

The senior midfielder almost did not play because of a stressed hip flexor. He ran through non-contact drills Thursday but did not practice the rest of the week in order to rehabilitate his injury. O'Keefe was playing with a heavily taped right thigh, but he still managed to score three goals.

Senior Mike Busza contributed three goals and three assists, and sophomore attackman Greg Jackson added four goals. But it was O'Keefe's final score that was the biggest.

"That was huge," Jackson said. "He just stepped it up."

Just like the Lions did in the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame's Randy Colley scored with four-tenths of a second remaining in the third quarter to send the game into the final stanza tied at 10. The Fighting Irish proceeded to score the next two goals and grab the momentum -- and a 12-10 lead.

Then Penn State Coach Glenn Thiel called a timeout with 5:55 left to play.

And though the players said nothing special was said during the timeout, the Lions responded with four straight goals.

Senior attackman Raffaele Chiodo scored the first of the four off a rebound, and Jackson followed with a goal of his own to tie the game at 12.

O'Keefe then scored on a rocket from the left. Senior midfielder Busza scooped up a loose ball and sent a bullet past the Notre Dame goalie to give the Lions a 14-12 lead.

"Busza is a machine," Thiel said. "He played a great game today."

For Busza, the win was the culmination of all the hard work he and his teammates put in during the preseason.

"Last year they beat us, and it really got us down for the remainder of the season," Busza said of last season's 12-9 loss at South Bend, Ind.

And holding a 14-12 lead with 3:38 left to play, it looked like the Lions would get the win.

"It was a real barn burner," Thiel said. "And a great lacrosse game."