UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Penn State senior midfielder Matt Traynor scored seven goals and eighth-ranked Penn State used an 8-1 mid-game run to break an early 1-1 tie as the Nittany Lions topped 19^th-ranekd Johns Hopkins, 10-4, at Panzer Stadium Saturday afternoon.  The win is the second straight for Penn State, which improves 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, while the Blue Jays slip to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten.
 
The teams battled evenly for the opening 15 minutes before Traynor fueled a 6-1 second-quarter spurt that gave the Nittany Lions a 7-2 halftime lead.  Penn State scored just after the Blue Jays killed off a man-down situation to open the second period before Traynor scored four of the final five Nittany Lion goals of the period.  He wrapped a pair of his strikes around a Jack Aimone tally before the period was seven minutes old, then answered a Jimmy Ayers goal for the Blue Jays with two more in the final 3:30 of the half to account for the five-goal Nittany Lion lead at the break.
 
Traynor struck twice more to open the third quarter before Charlie Iler and Dylan Bauer scored two straight for the Blue Jays in a span of 91 seconds late in the period to pull the Blue Jays within 9-4.  Iler beat the shot clock off a restart from the end line as he dodged to crease and wrapped one around Penn State goalie Jack Fracyon, while Bauer spun free of a defender near the restraining line and blew one home to pull the Blue Jays within five.
 
Penn State worked the clock throughout the fourth quarter and scored the period's only goal with just 85 seconds remaining when Hunter Aquino.  The Blue Jays fired eight fourth-quarter shots at Penn State goalie Jack Fracyon, but he turned away three of the eight offerings and the other five missed the cage as Aquino's late strike accounted for the only goal in the period.
 
The loss offset a strong performance by Blue Jay goalie Oran Gelinas, who posted 12 saves, including four in the first and third quarters and three in the fourth.  The 12 saves are the second-best total of his career and third time in five games he has posted 10 or more saves.
 
Up Next
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Friday, April 18 when the Blue Jays travel to Maryland for the 128^th renewal of the greatest rivalry in college lacrosse (8 pm / BTN).