Laxer scores twice in pinch to seal win

By DON WAGNER
Collegian Sports Writer

When Penn State men's lacrosse player Mike Busza was a freshman, he scored the game-winning goal against Maryland-Baltimore County. This weekend, he and his teammates again faced the Golden Retrievers in Baltimore.

Busza, now a senior tri-captain, must have had a case of deja vu as once again, he tallied the game-winning goal against the Golden Retrievers.

His goal, with 27 seconds left in the game, gave the Lions a 16-15 win on Saturday in a game that saw the Lions trail almost the entire time. Not until Lion midfielder Rob Warren tied the game at 2:25 into the fourth quarter did the Lions start to make a run.

Then, at the 3:47 mark, freshman midfielder Todd Korte scored to give the Lions their first lead. Eventually, UMBC battled back, and the Lions would needed Busza's last-minute heroics to pull out the win.

Coach Glenn Thiel said his team came out ready to play, but just couldn't get saves when it needed them. For the game, the Lion goalies -- Jason Johnson and Andy King --had 10 saves between them. Going into the fourth quarter, they only had two.

Thiel said the key to his team's win was the fourth quarter, when Penn State started to double team the Golden Retrievers and forced them into rushing shots. It was those double teams that allowed the Lions to play their type of up-tempo game and take the lead, Thiel added.

Working against the Lions was the absence of midfielder Steve Lehman to an injury and the fact that the UMBC defense had bottled up the leading Lion scorer -- attackman Erik Merkel. Thiel said he was pleased with the way his younger players, like Warren, Matt Lewis, Dave O'Donnell and Greg Jackson, stepped up to fill that hole.

Jackson led all Lion scorers with four goals. Warren and O'Donnell had two goals, and Lewis had one.

O'Donnell said it was Jackson's play that helped the Lions pull out the win.

"With Merkel being double teamed every time he got the ball, Jackson was left wide open and he converted," he said.

Thiel gave credit to UMBC for coming out fired up and ready to knock off the nationally ranked Lions and make a name for itself.

"It's a little tougher when you're the front-runner and everyone is trying to get you," he said.