Penn State goaltender Josh LaGrow tallied just nine minutes of play last season, but in last Saturday's season opener against Ohio State, the junior showcased six of the best minutes in a career that seems to be taking off rather quickly.

In the No. 17 Nittany Lions' 5-4 victory over the Buckeyes, LaGrow's 77 percent save percentage speaks volumes for the show he put on. But throughout the last six minutes of the game, the first year starter proved he's more than deserving of his new role.

"It was just a goalie game in the second half," Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said.

"It was an even game and then [LaGrow] just the shut door on them."

After attacker Greg Hale scored the game-winning goal with 5:53 remaining in the fourth quarter, a solid performance was demanded of LaGrow, as the No. 20 Buckeyes controlled the offense for four of the six remaining minutes. LaGrow faced seven shots as well as a man-down situation, which came with just two and a half minutes to play.

The final test arrived at the 35-second mark when Ohio State fired a shot just seven yards from the goal. Still LaGrow persevered -- and earned his first victory.

He wasn't nervous. There were no jitters. Rather it was just the excitement of the anxiously awaited opportunity to finally serve as the Lions' starting goaltender and leader.

"[Saturday] was one of the most fun times I've ever had," LaGrow said. "When the clock reached zero, it was just a great feeling."

It was a feeling of confidence and pride -- something that, as last year's backup, he hardly saw a glimpse of behind All-American goaltender Chris Garrity.

Sitting on the bench is difficult for any athlete emerging from high school with the impressive list of accolades LaGrow compiled, but realizing his chances of playing were slim to none was the hardest aspect to deal with.

"I knew the situation and when you have a goalie like Garrity, you know that it's going to be hard to beat him out," LaGrow said.

"It killed me to sit on the bench, but I learned every day in practice and used what I learned in practice to prove I am a good goalie. I wanted to play and get in the goal and start."

Watching from the sidelines was utter torture, but two years of shadowing one of the best goalies to pass through the Penn State program paid off in the long run. Perhaps LaGrow's smooth adjustment into the full-time goalie tasking has something to do with observing the quicker shot, defense and overall pace of the game for two seasons.

LaGrow is still learning from the goalie that led Penn State to its first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament considering Garrity is now serving as an assistant coach. LaGrow doesn't feel like he has shoes to fill though.

In fact, he's not worried about proving anything to anyone. He's just reassuring himself that he can be that top Div. I goalie he always knew he could be -- given the opportunity.

"I knew I was very good in high school and I am very good in college," he said.

"I went into those first few games with that attitude of trying to get better I basically said, 'its my turn.'"

LaGrow hasn't surprised himself with his ability to rise to the occasion. His coaches on the other hand, had concerns prior to the start of the season.

Early on, assistant coach Lars Tiffany thought there might be a need to implement a more patient offense to allow less defensive time in front of the cage.

LaGrow's poise and confidence, though, allowed Tiffany to scratch the idea of changing the philosophy of the team to fit the new goalie.

"We thought about [changing the philosophy], but we're not going to change the Penn State style of play," Tiffany said. "We like being aggressive. We want to stick with what we got and fortunately it looks like we can."

LaGrow proved to himself on Saturday that he can be that great goalie he's always aspired to be.

Furthermore, he surprised his coaches with a stellar performance. But they aren't complaining.

"If he performs like [he did Saturday] we are in good shape," Thiel said. "He was beyond our expectations. He was phenomenal.

He was ready but he just needed a chance to shine and he did it. It was nice for him to get a little confidence and a macho appeal and hopefully he'll play like that all the time."