STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Lafayette men's lacrosse team hung tough throughout the season opener on Saturday afternoon in State College, Pa., but No. 1/2 Penn State proved too tough in the end as the Leopards fell by a 16-9 score.
 
Three different Lafayette players recorded their first career tallies on Saturday as the Maroon and White featured six freshmen in the starting lineup. Rookies Ian McCauley and Nick Jessen, and sophomore Andrew Robbins, each scored two apiece, while freshman Ryan Duncan, along with sophomore Cole Dutton and junior Bryan Hess added a goal each.
 
Sophomore Ryan Ness was stout between the pipes to keep the Leopards within striking distance all day long. Ness finished with 11 saves on 36 shots faced, playing the full 60 minutes in his 2020 debut.
 
Lafayette scored the first goal of the game on Jessen's tally and Penn State countered, but the game stuck at 1-1 through a good portion of the opening quarter, heading to the second at 3-1 in the home side's favor. The Nittany Lions opened it up in the second, scoring five straight out of the quarter break to make it 8-1 before Hess' score sent the game to the halftime break at 8-2.
 
Penn State added a ninth goal at the start of the third quarter, but McCauley and Dutton went back-to-back to pull the Leopards within five, 9-4, with 10:41 to play in the third. The Nittany Lions pushed it back out to 15-4 into the fourth, but Lafayette closed with five of the final six tallies to finish with a seven-goal margin, 16-9.
 
The home side led in shots, 36-30, and converted on all four of its extra-man opportunities. Lafayette went 1-for-4 on EMO's, won five of the game's 27 faceoffs and forced Penn State into 17 turnovers while committing 19 of its own.
 
The Leopards return home next weekend for the home opener at Fisher Stadium on Saturday, hosting No. 16 Georgetown at 12 p.m.