UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—The Hobart College lacrosse team overcame a 3-0 first quarter deficit to build a 7-5 second quarter lead, but Penn State University outscored the Statesmen 10-1 over the final 31 minutes of the game, giving the Nittany Lions a 15-8 victory.
 
Junior Chris Aslanian paced the Statesmen with four goals and two assists. Sophomore Eric Holden added a goal and two assists and first-year Ryan Archer chipped in a pair of assists. Junior goalie Tristan Dougherty made 14 saves.
 
Sophomore Mac O'Keefe matched Aslanian's six points to pace Penn State. He had a game-high five goals and an assist. Junior Kevin Hill contributed two goals and three assists and junior Nick Spillane had a goal and three assists. Sophomore Gerard Arceri struggled at the faceoff X early, but came on strong as the game progressed, winning 16-of-24 and collecting a game-high 10 ground balls. Sophomore Colby Kneese got the win in goal with 12 saves.
 
O'Keefe scored twice in the first six minutes of the game, helping the Lions build a 3-0 lead.
 
Sophomore Justin Scott got the Statesmen on the board with less than five minutes left in the opening frame, kick-starting a four goal run by Hobart. Just over a minute later, senior Mason Burr scored off an assist from Archer. Aslanian pumped in back-to-back goals 44 seconds apart to give the Statesmen a 4-3 lead.
 
Penn State tied the game before the first quarter expired. Hill opened the second quarter scoring to nudge the home team back in front, but Aslanian, first-year Ty Yanko and Holden scored in succession to stake the Statesmen to a 7-5 lead with just over three minutes left in the half.
 
Hobart senior faceoff specialist J. Andrew Spallanzani was on fire early in the contest, winning eight of the first 11 faceoffs he took, but Arceri, who was sixth in the nation in faceoff percentage last season, won the final three faceoffs of the half, and stayed hot after halftime to keep the Lions comeback.
 
PSU got the final goal of the half to go into the break, trailing 7-6.
 
Penn State (1-1) charged out of the gate in the second half, scoring eight straight goals across the third and four quarters to build a 14-7 lead with under three minutes remaining.
 
Aslanian, assisted by Archer, scored the only Hobart goal of the second half to make it 14-8 with 2:28 left. O'Keefe closed the days scoring with 38 seconds left.
 
PSU finished the day 2-of-3 with the extra man, had a 34-27 advantage in ground balls, a 16-10 lead in faceoffs and a 36-34 edge in shots. Hobart was 1-for-3 with the extra man.
 
The Statesmen (0-1) will play their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 17 against Siena.