Michigan
8-7
Penn State
8-6
Curran's Winner Lifts Michigan Over No. 14 Penn State in OT
4/28/2018 2:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
» Decker Curran scored the winner for U-M 58 seconds into the sudden-death overtime session. He had three of his four scores in the fourth quarter.
» Brent Noseworthy had three points to break the U-M single-season record for points in a season (48).
» Michigan jumped out to a 3-0 lead, holding the Nittany Lions scoreless for the first 21:41 of the contest, and outscored PSU 5-2 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
» The victory is the first for the Wolverines over Penn State and the first Big Ten win for U-M since 2015.
Site: State College, Pa. (Panzer Stadium)
Score: Michigan 10, #14 Penn State 9 (OT)
Records: U-M (8-6, 1-4 B1G), PSU (8-6, 2-3 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Junior Decker Curran scored the game-winner at the 3:02 mark of overtime to lift the University of Michigan men's lacrosse team to a 10-9 victory over the No. 14 Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday (April 28) at Panzer Stadium in U-M's final contest of the 2018 season.
Additionally, junior Brent Noseworthy became the program's all-time leader for points in a season with two goals and one assist on the day. He finishes the season with 42 goals and seven assists (49 points), surpassing the mark previously set by Ian King in 2017 (47 points).
In overtime, U-M's Connor Cronin won the lone faceoff of the session. Following a cycle through Michigan's offensive set, Curran was able to find space and send home a crank shot from 10 yards out to lift U-M to its second Big Ten win in program history and first since 2015.
Michigan (8-6, 1-4 B1G) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, holding the Nittany Lions scoreless for the first 21:41 of the contest. The Wolverines used a pair of goals from Noseworthy and one from senior Chase Young to maintain the early lead.
Penn State's Ryan Keenan was responsible for two of PSU's three goals in the first half, as he scored the first at the 8:39 mark of the second quarter and the latter with 1:26 to go in the period. Michigan led 5-3 heading into the half.
U-M held a distinct advantage in the shot category at the half, outshooting PSU 28-12, and was also 5-of-10 at the all-important faceoff dot. The Maize and Blue also turned the ball over only four times.
Penn State came alive in the third quarter, outscoring U-M 4-0 in the stanza, and led 7-5 heading into the fourth. After Michigan was held scoreless in the third, freshman Alex Buckanavage and junior Decker Curran connected, with Curran finishing in close to put an end to the scoring drought, making the score 7-6 at the 13:36 mark in regulation.
Junior Rocco Sutherland brought the tally to 8-7 at the 10:30 portion of the fourth on a roll from X, while Curran followed with his second of the quarter at 6:33 on a helper from Noseworthy to tie the score, 8-8, with 4:53 to go.
Penn State's Mac O'Keefe gave the Nittany Lions a 9-8 lead with 40 seconds to go in regulation, but Michigan countered 18 seconds later with Curran's third goal of the fourth quarter, on a feed from Sutherland with 22 seconds to go to tie the contest.
Tweet of the Game
Sing that song!#EarnIt?? | #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/LdyE2nvZld
— Michigan Lacrosse (@UMichLacrosse) April 28, 2018
In head coach Kevin Conry's first season, U-M climbed as high as No. 15 in the Maverik media poll and 17th in the USILA coaches poll. Highlighted by the first win over a ranked team on the road at No. 4 Notre Dame (March 21), U-M also had a program-best 5-2 record at home.
Michigan will play host to 2018 Big Ten Men's Lacrosse Tournament beginning with the semifinals of the tournament on Thursday (May 3) at 5:30 p.m. Seeds will be determined late Saturday.
