In his pregame speech to the team, Panthers’ head coach Frank Graziano said “the Penn State game would be a struggle and well fought.” He was right.

Early on, the Nittany Lions grabbed an 18-0 half-time lead. The Panthers were unable to come back from this deficit and eventually lost 35-5, which was the Panthers first lost since 2001 against Marquette.

The game started off with both teams trying to establish control of the field. The Nittany Lions broke through the Panther defense with a goal by Kim Magrini nine minutes into the game. Both teams continued to work for field position until the 11-minute mark. Penn State made the score 10-0 with a goal by Emily Donaldson.

“The second goal was the turning point of the game. After the first score we did not let up, but after the second one, we did,” Graziano said. “It was difficult to get out of the hole after that.”

Shortly after Donaldson’s score, Devon Boyle made it 15-0 with a score of her own. The Nittany Lions would lead 18-0 at half-time. Senior Becky Carlson said Penn State was successful on offense because the forwards were driving the Panthers deep in their own territory. The Panthers were not able to get anything going offensively during the first half.

The second half was more of the same as both teams continued to fight for field position. Penn State scored again with 24:17 left on a goal by Carrie White. About five minutes later, Amber Berlian scored the first of her two goals of the game.

Despite this deficit, Eastern made one last run at the game. The Panthers lone score came with 12:26 by Billie Sayers. However, the Nittany Lions were able to put the match out of reach late in the second half and took the game 35-5.

Carlson acknowledges the Nittany Lions are a very good team. On the other hand, she knows the Panthers still have some work to do.

“We fought all the way through the match but we did not capitalize on opportunities,” Carlson said. “We’ve really never been in the position where we have needed to come back. This shows that we are a little vulnerable.”

Overall, the Panthers matched up well with the Nittany Lions Graziano said.

“The line-outs and scrum play was as good as theirs” he said.

Graziano mentioned the big difference was Penn State was more aggressive and their rucking was superior to ours.

Graziano is confident that his team will rebound from the loss.

“When two good teams play, one is going to win and the other is going to lose,” Graziano said. “(We’d rather) lose to a better team than one they should beat.”

After a bye week, the Panthers next play host to the Arkansas Razorbacks on senior day.