Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/3/18
From Press Releases
John Kluh nets the sudden-victory goal for the Wildcats just seconds into the first overtime to secure a 17-16 win today over No. 12 Penn State.
The Wildcats were down five heading into the fourth quarter, Penn State went on a four goal run to end the third quarter to be up 14-9. Connor Kirst got the Wildcat offense going in the final 15 minutes of regulation, he netted the first goal and then dished the assist to Danny Seibel just over a minute later to pull Villanova within three. Penn State’s Nick Spillane scored his second goal of the day right after but Kirst kept the Villanova offense going. He assisted Colin Crowley’s first career goal with just over 11 to play in regulation.
Christian Cuccinello would score two of the Wildcats final four goals in the fourth, Jared Nugent and Seibel scored the others, this put the Villanova up 16-15 with just over four left. The Nittany Lion’s called a time out with a minute remaining, they were able to capitalize when Kevin Hill completed his hat trick to tie the game up.
John Kluh with the overtime winner! The Wildcats improve to 1-0 #GoNova pic.twitter.com/D61XrSNrV4
— Villanova Men's Lax (@NovaLacrosse) February 3, 2018
It only took Kluh 40 seconds into the first overtime to score the game winner on a fast break where he was able to loss his defender and get his shot to fall in the top corner.
Villanova’s only other lead of the day came in the second quarter when Eric Overbay netted his first career goal at the 6:39 mark. The game was tied nine different times and remained close from the beginning until the third when Penn State outscored the Wildcats 7-3.
Cuccinello finished with a team high five goals on the day while Kirst had four points on one goal and three assists. Freshmen Colin Crowley and Keegan Khan both made a big impact in their first collegiate games, each scored two goals. Transfer Matt Barrett (Malvern Pfrep) got the start in goal for the Wildcats and had three saves before Nick Testa would play the final 53 minutes to pick up the win.
The Wildcats will travel to Frisco, Texas next to take on the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday, February 17th. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on LSN.