As was the case two years ago, the national semifinal ended up being the last stop for Penn State lacrosse.
Top-seeded Cornell lived up to its billing and fended off a late Penn State surge to win, 11-9.
The loss was certainly no fault of Liam Matthews, who scored four times for Penn State.
Matt Traynor also scored twice. For Cornell, Hugh Kelleher had a hat trick.
The game was scoreless for almost the entire first quarter until Cornell’s Willem Firth made it 1-0.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.But it didn’t take Penn State long to tie up. Liam Matthews did so with 14:14 left in the second quarter.
Less than two minutes later, Penn State grabbed the lead for the first time courtesy of Will Peden. But Cornell tied it within 10 seconds thanks to a Jack Cascadden goal. Matthew’s second goal put Penn State back in front with 8:27 left. Kyle Lehman increased Penn State’s lead before Cornell fought back with two goals to make tie it at four. With 42 seconds left in the half, Matt Traynor gave Penn State the lead. Penn State held the advantage into halftime.
Cornell took over in the third quarter and led 10-6 going into the fourth. But Penn State almost came all the way back, scoring three goals to make it 10-9 with 9:35 left. A goal by Cornell’s Hugh Kelleher created some more breathing room and ended up being the final tally.
Penn State ends the year 12-5. It’s first national title game appearance will have to wait.
