LACROSSE: Overtime not enoough for Irish in 10-9 loss
By JOE LICANDRO
Sports Writer
In lacrosse, every second counts.
And nobody knows that more than Notre Dame after a heartbreaking 10-9 season-opening overtime loss to Penn State.
After tying the game at 2-2 on a goal by Devin Ryan with only four seconds left on the game clock at the end of the first quarter, it appeared as if the Irish were well on their way to recovering from a shaky start against Penn State. But a controversial goal on the ensuing face-off changed the complexion of the game.
Penn State freshman Jesse Tarr scooped up the loose ball and fired a shot from midfield that dribbled through the legs of Irish goalie Stewart Crosland, giving Penn State a 3-2 lead as time expired in the first quarter.
It appeared as if the timekeepers started the game clock a few seconds late and that the goal should not have counted. But after holding a conference at midfield, the referees ruled that the goal counted.
Irish head coach Kevin Corrigan stood in disbelief after the refs made their decision to award the goal to Penn State.
"[The referees] messed up plain and simple," said Corrigan. "But that is not why we lost. We gave them four goals because of our inability to clear the ball."
Irish senior captain Devin Ryan agreed with his coach's assessment about the controversial goal.
"We can't do anything about that," said Ryan. "We can't worry about the referees. We need to stay with our game plan and worry about ourselves."
At the end of the second quarter, the Irish seemed to recover from the controversial goal and held a slim 5-4 lead into halftime thanks to another goal by Ryan with just under a minute to go in the first half.
The Nittany Lions came roaring back in the third quarter, scoring three straight goals to jump out to a 7-5 lead.
After going scoreless in the third quarter, the Irish were in desperate need of an offensive spark in the fourth quarter. Once again, Ryan provided the offensive firepower with his third goal.
After the Irish pulled within one goal, the Nittany Lions scored two straight goals to a 9-6 lead with only 8:12 to play.
But the Irish refused to go down quietly. Freshman Matt Malakoff started the comeback by scoring his first career goal off an incredible one-handed shot while lying down on the ground. And at the 4:11 mark, Irish sophomore attack man Matt Howell scored his third goal of the game thanks to senior captain John Flandina's game-high fourth assist.
With only thirty seconds remaining, Notre Dame mounted one final offensive charge. After weaving around the goal, Devin Ryan found sophomore attack man Dan Berger at the corner of the net. Berger fired a shot past Garrity, tying the game with only seven seconds left on the game clock.
At 2:29 into overtime, freshman Will Jones capped off an impressive college debut with his third goal of the game giving the Nittany Lions a narrow 10-9 victory.
"It was a tough game. It is hard to lose a game like that," said Ryan. " Every time we play Penn State, the game always goes down to the wire. We had a lot of young guys out there, though. We will get better. We have the talent. We just need to return to the fundamentals and keep playing hard."
Notre Dame's defense struggled with the physical play and size of the Penn State attackers.
"We looked lost on the defensive end," said Corrigan. "It was embarrassing. We gave them four of their goals because we just turned the ball over. We have to do a much better job this week in practice."
In his first career start, sophomore Stewart Crosland stopped 18 of the 28 shots he faced.
"Stewart worked hard in practice, and I felt he gave us the best chance to win," said Corrigan.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 26, 2002
