UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Big Red men's lacrosse team hung with No. 11 Penn State for the first 20 minutes of the contest, but a 6-0 scoring run by the second-best offense in the nation blew open a 3-3 game and the Nittany Lions rolled to a 20-10 victory this afternoon in University Park, Pa.
 
Penn State (3-0) was led by Grant Ament with six goals and three assists, while Mac O'Keefe, who leads the nation in goals per game, added five goals.
 
Eleven different players ended up in the point column for Cornell with Jordan Dowiak tallying a team-high two goals. Altogether, four Big Red – Jeff Teat, Charlie Estill, Sam Duggan, and Connor Fletcher – scored the first goals of their career.
 
In goal, Christian Knight made 14 saves and allowed 19 goals before giving way to Dan Nemirov, who allowed the final PSU goal of the game with 2:32 to play.
 
The Nittany Lions held the advantage in shots (48-32) and ground balls (22-14), but really won the game thanks to a 25-of-34 advantage in face-offs that slanted the time of possession firmly towards the home team. After Cornell won the first three face-offs of the game, PSU won 8-of-9 in the second quarter, including the final five as it embarked on a decisive run.
 
In goal Colby Kneese picked up the win, making nine saves and allowing seven goals before Will Schreiner and Trevor Scollins let in the final three Big Red tallies over the final eight minutes of the contest.
 
Both teams were solid in the clearing game with one failed attempt each, and both squads scored one man-up goal, with Cornell going 1-of-2 and PSU going 1-of-3.
 
COACH'S CORNER- MATT KERWICK
We were battling hard in the first half and did not cash in on our good looks, particularly in the first quarter.  We had a few chances to make it a 4-4 game in second quarter, but credit to Penn State for making plays heading into the half.
 
The ground ball play at the face-off allowed Penn State to make a run through the third.  We knew that they have an outstanding offense and the ground ball play and a few careless turnovers allowed them to get more comfortable against our defense. 
 
We have a great group in that locker room and we will stick together this week as we prepare for Hobart.
 
TURNING POINT
After Jordan Dowiak knotted the game at 3-3 with 6:32 to play in the second quarter, Penn State scored four unanswered to take a 7-3 lead at the half. During the run, the Nittany Lions dominated time of possession by winning the final five face-offs of the quarter and limiting the Big Red's time of possession to just 1:41.
 
Penn State pushed its lead to 9-3 early in the third quarter with a pair before Dowiak ended the 6-0 Nittany Lion run.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell will take on its oldest rival and Coach Kerwick's alma mater, Hobart in Geneva on Saturday, Feb. 25 at noon. The game will be the 137th meeting between the two programs, with the Big Red holding an 86-47-4 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1896. After the Big Red dropped five consecutive meetings with Hobart from 1996-2000, Cornell has won 15 of the last 16 meetings. In his fourth season at the helm of the Statesmen's program, Greg Raymond led Hobart last season to its first 10-win campaign since joining Division I in 1995. Hobart finished the year with a record of 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the NEC before winning the NEC Tournament and competing in the NCAA play-in game