The No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions lost to the No. 4 Northwestern Wildcats, 17-12, on April 12 at Panzer Stadium.
The game drew a record-breaking crowd of 1,115 fans for women’s lacrosse at Panzer Stadium, highlighting growing interest in the sport and the team’s performance this season.
Kelly MacKinney and Delaney Radin led Penn State’s offense, each scoring three goals. Radin also contributed three assists for a total of six points. Erika Ho added two goals and an assist while Emma Kelly, Rocquette Allen, Anna Salerno, and Payton Wainman each scored once. Defensively, Maddie Greco, Maggie Driver and Lauren Tinson registered two caused turnovers apiece; Sydney Manning made twelve saves on forty-two shots faced.
The first quarter ended tied at three after both teams traded early leads. In the second quarter, Penn State briefly went ahead before Northwestern responded with consecutive goals to take a halftime lead of seven to five. The Wildcats extended their advantage in the third quarter by outscoring Penn State six to two.
Penn State rallied in the fourth quarter as Radin set up MacKinney for her thirty-eighth goal of the season and later converted a free-position shot herself. Despite closing the gap late in the game through defensive stands and additional scores from MacKinney and Radin, Northwestern maintained control until time expired.
Radin now has forty-seven assists this season—just five shy of breaking Penn State’s single-season record of fifty-one assists.
Looking ahead, Penn State will remain at Panzer Stadium for its regular-season home finale against Johns Hopkins on Thursday, April 16 at six p.m., which will be broadcast on Big Ten Network as part of their Whiteout event.
