Saturday afternoon the Towson University women's lacrosse team opened the 2019 season at No. 12 Penn State and fell 13-7. The Tigers were paced by sophomore Kaitlin Thornton who had three goals and one assist, Coeli Love also contributed an assist. Natalie Sulmonte and Annie Sachs had two goals each. No. 11 Towson moves to 0-1 on the season while the No. 12 Nittany Lions start 1-0. How it Happened In the ninth meeting between the two teams, scoring was fairly evenly matched as the game was tied three times in the first half. Penn State took the lead initially four minutes into the game, but Kaitlin Thornton responded 26 seconds later with her first goal of the year. At the 24:12 mark the Nittany Lions regained the lead. The Tigers took three more shots before finding the back of the net on a goal from Annie Sachs, assisted by Coeli Love. Two minutes later, Natalie Sulmonte recorded her first goal of the year, assisted by Thornton, putting Towson ahead for the first time in the game, 3-2. Penn State found a chance with 8:45 to go and tied the game for the third time. Sachs scored her second goal of the day with just under three minutes to go in the half. The Tigers entered the locker room with a one-goal lead. The Nittany Lions scored two straight goals in the opening minutes of the second period. Thornton responded at the 22:41 mark to tie the game for the fifth time. Following Thornton's goal, the home team scored four unanswered and took a 9-5 lead with nine minutes to go. Sulmonte cut the lead with a goal in the eighth minute and Penn State responded less than 60 seconds later. Thornton's final goal came with 5:27 left to play, as the home team lead 10-7. In the final four minutes the Nittany Lions scored three more goals to seal the win. Inside the Numbers In Kiley Keating's first appearance in the net, she recorded 12 saves. Towson out-shot Penn State in the first period with 13 shots to 11 but the Nittany Lions had a 24-9 shot advantage in the second. Natalie Sulmonte and Kaitlin Thornton had four shots and six shots respectively, four shots on goal for each. Olivia Conti, Sami Chenoweth and Meg Lynch had two caused turnovers each, the Tigers had a 16-11 advantage on caused turnovers. Beyond the Box Kerri Thornton and Erin Williams each had their first career start and collegiate debut on Saturday. Up Next Towson remains on the road next week at No. 12 Georgetown.