BURLINGTON, Vt. - Penn State held off Vermont 7-5 in a defensive battle in men's lacrosse action at Moulton Winder Field on Sunday afternoon. Freshman Geoff Worley (Coronado, Calif.) scored for the Catamounts with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 6-5. However, Jack Forster answered with 1:24 remaining to seal the win for the Nittany Lions. PSU improved to 3-3 on the season with the win while UVM dropped to 3-2 with the loss.

Sophomore Derek Lichtfuss (Lutherville, Md.) scored a game-high three goals for the Catamounts. Senior Andrew Kelleher (Delmar, N.Y.) added a man-up goal for his 16th tally of the season. Senior goalie Justin Lubas (Freehold, N.J.) finished with seven saves.

Senior Rob Forster and junior Brian Shea each had two goals in the win for Penn State. Senior goalie Drew Adams stopped nine shots. Senior Jordan Kolb went 7-for-8 on face offs and the Nittany Lions went 11-for-15 on draws as a team.

Vermont took a 3-2 lead with 7:45 left in the second quarter when Lichtfuss scored his second of three goals. Sophomore Parker Bunnell (San Diego, Calif.) setup the score.

Penn State responded with three unanswered goals to take a 5-3 advantage to halftime. Rob Forster scored twice in the stretch, including a man-up goal to cap off the run with 2:55 left in the second quarter.

Following a scoreless third quarter, sophomore Chris Hogan gave the Nittany Lions their largest lead at 6-3 with 11:49 remaining.

Lichtfuss scored with 8:05 left and then Worley made it a one-goal game with just over two minutes left but the Catamounts would get no closer.

Penn State out shot Vermont 33-30 and held a 36-22 advantage in ground balls.

Vermont returns to action on Saturday, March 21 at 12 p.m. (CST) against No. 5 Notre Dame at SMU Ford Field in Dallas, Texas, in the Patriot Cup.

NOTES: Penn State leads the all-time series against Vermont 3-0 ... The Catamounts went 22-for-30 on clears ... Justin Lubas had a team-high four ground balls ... Check back to www.UVMathletics.com for game highlights and postgame comments from Derek Lichtfuss.

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa; March 15, 2009 – The Penn State Nittany Lion lacrosse team rode the scoring prowess of brothers Jack and Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) and a solid defensive effort to claim a 7-5 win at Vermont on Sunday. Playing their second road game in five days, the Nittany Lions evened their record at 3-3 with their third straight win.

Vermont got on the board first with a goal from Andrew Kelleher before Penn State answered with two straight goals, both unassisted, from Chris Mulqueen (Downingtown, Pa.) and Brian Shea (Gaithersburg, Md.) gave the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead. But Vermont would tie the game with a Derek Lichtfuss goal with 4:20 left in the opening period to send the game to the second period knotted at 2-2.

The second period belonged to Penn State, however, as the Nittany Lions outscored the Catamounts 3-1. Lichtfuss scored the second period's first goal midway through the period to put Vermont up 3-2, but Penn State answered with a three goal blitz heading into the locker room. Rob Forster and Shea scored unassisted goals at the 6:51 and 5:32 marks respectively and then Rob took an assist from younger brother Jack to score a man-up goal with 2:55 left to send the Nittany Lions into the halftime break with a 5-3 lead.

After a scoreless third period, Penn State added to its lead early in the fourth as Chris Hogan (Wyckoff, N.J.) scored unassisted at the 11:49 mark, putting Penn State up 6-3. But Vermont would answer with two straight goals. Lichtfuss scored with 8:05 left in the game and Geoff Worley scored with 2:13 remaining to bring UV within one, 6-5. But Jack Forster iced the game with an unassisted goal at the 1:24 mark, giving Penn State the 7-5 final.

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2009-03-15