Penn State tops Pitt 12-11 in OT in DI women’s lacrosse showdown

Penn State freshman Rocquette Allen scored the game-winner Wednesday despite Pitt’s Emily Clemens’ rally with three fourth-quarter goals.

The in-state rivalry battle Wednesday in Happy Valley not only went into overtime, but it also showcased two NCAA Division I women’s college lacrosse freshman that battled until the end for a dub that would extend their respective team’s undefeated Spring season start.

Penn State freshman Rocquette Allen and Pitt freshman Emily Clemens were locked in a late-match showdown. The Nittany Lions led early, but Clemens helped the Panthers rally in the fourth to force an 11-11 tie.

Allen defended her home turf and fired the game-winner with 3:20 left in overtime, ending it 12-11. Penn State is 4-0; Pitt is 2-1.

Pitt, ranked No. 25, traveled to Happy Valley to face No. 23-ranked Penn State. They were coming off an upset home victory over No. 14 ranked Duke. Pitt won 17-10.

Anna Salerno broke the ice between the squads on Wednesday, putting Penn State up 1-0 in the first. Her goal was followed up by Payton Wainman and Kelly Mackinney. Salerno and Mackinney were both assisted by Delaney Radin.

Pitt stopped the Penn State scoring run with an unassisted goal scored by Avery Moon. 

The Panthers played a physical game, largely allowed by the referees, but an illegal use of the stick gave the Nittany Lions a free position, which Ryan capitalized on, scoring Penn State’s fourth goal of the game and her fourth of the season. 

With less than two minutes left in the first, Wainman scored her second goal of the game giving the Nittany Lions a 5-1 lead. 

The Panthers came out of the quarter break with a newfound aggression and an unassisted goal scored by Gigi Leonzi in less than two minutes into the second. Allen answered with her 13th goal of the season less than one minute later. 

Back-to-back Nittany Lions goals scored by Emma Kelly gave Penn State an 8-3 lead over Pitt, but the Panthers weren’t backing down.

Madeline Mill scored to cut the lead back to within four. Kelly got her third goal of the game minutes later in an attempt to pull away from the Panthers.

Three minutes into the second half, Pitt’s Paige Telatovich and Kaitlyn Giandonato scored back-to back-goals to cut the Nittany Lion’s lead to 9-6. 

Penn State came back with Mackinney scoring her second goal of the season at 8:05 in the third. Radin also went on to score her second goal of the game to put Penn State up 11-6 going into the fourth quarter.

Leonzi led the fourth-quarter push. She scored just over three minutes into the fourth. That fired up her teammate Emily Clemens, who dug deep to score three goals — Telatovich scored the ninth — that closed the gap and tied the game.

Penn State travels to Drexel on Sunday. Pitt hosts Virginia Tech the same day.

Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Clara Romae Slowinski is a student-intern at Penn State University.