Laxers beat Notre Dame

By CARLA MOTKO
Collegian Staff Writer

When the Nittany Lions came up with the ball with just a few seconds left on the game clock, the bench of the No. 16 Penn State men's lacrosse team erupted with victory cheers.

Yesterday's 13-8 victory at Holuba Hall got the Lions' season off on the right foot, but for the team's seven seniors, it was not just any win. With a five-goal margin of victory, the Lions knocked off No. 22 Notre Dame for the first time in the careers of the seniors.

"This was a great win for the seniors. To beat Notre Dame for the first time was terrific," senior attacker Todd Kaiser said. "It was a big win going into the season. We came out in the first game of the season and played real well. We'll need this win especially going into tourney time."

Keeping in mind the game's playoff implications, the Lions came out fast and furious in the first quarter. Senior midfielder Chris Schiller, who ended the day with a goal and an assist, opened up the scoring just 2:36 into the game.

But Notre Dame, which in addition to needing the win come playoff time also wanted to keep its streak against Penn State alive, jumped out to a two-goal lead in less than four minutes. While the Fighting Irish offense raked in points, the defense held the Lions' offense at bay.

"It was a little bit more fast paced of a game than I thought it would be," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said. "I thought they were going to kill the ball a little more, but our defense pressure made them go to the goal."

After the Lions picked up on Notre Dame's pace, it didn't take long for them to answer. After scoring twice in two minutes, Penn State attacker Will Driscoll scored with a mere 30 seconds left in the quarter to regain the lead, 4-3.

The Lions and Irish exchanged a few goals through the second quarter, and Penn State went into the half with a 7-5 lead.

Although Penn State had a two-goal lead to start the third quarter, Notre Dame had a 29-second man advantage. After killing off the penalty, the Lions' defense held the Irish scoreless for the next 16:50 while the offense ran rampant.

Kaiser and senior linemate John Chescavage engulfed the net and opened up Penn State's lead to 12-5. Chescavage finished out the night with three goals and two assists while Kaiser tacked on three goals.

As in the second period, the teams traded goals, but Penn State's lead was already too large.

When the clock ticked down to zero, the doubts of Thiel and the rest of the Lions were laid to rest. After losing the home opener to the Irish in two of the last three seasons, the team questioned its ability to end the streak.

"I am real pleased with where we are at," Thiel said. "We've questioned ourselves a little bit the last few days of practice whether or not we were good enough to beat them, but we were patient and didn't get out of control and it finally paid off."

Thiel's reasons for concern laid in the Lions' problems on the face-off. They had difficulty facing off against the Irish because the Lions were often in man-down situations. Although he was concerned about the number of penalties his team took, Thiel said he is confident the penalty problem will work out and should not be such a factor later in the season.

"Certainly it was a good start," he said of the win. "We have some tougher games coming up against some more-talented kids, so we know they'll get tougher and tougher. Overall, it was a solid effort and we had control of things."