UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – On THON weekend — Penn State’s famous student-run fundraising event to help combat childhood cancer — Panzer Stadium was filled with an overflow crowd of 2,478 to watch the No. 1 Nittany Lions play No.3 Yale.

Yale spoiled the atmosphere, beating Penn State yet again, winning 12-10.

The game was anything but smooth, with Yale having to fight for its win.

“I thought it was nip and tuck the entire way, I thought we pulled away a little bit and then they had a few at the end,” Yale coach Andy Shay said.

After the first quarter, Yale led 2-1 with the teams combining for 13 turnovers.

In the past few games of Penn State’s short season, they’ve been able to take possession and ramp things up in the second quarter. That was not in the cards today.

Yale scored four straight goals to take a 6-1 lead before Penn State trimmed it to 6-3 at the half.

Yale stretched its lead in the third quarter, but Penn State mounted a charge. Senior attackman senior Dylan Foulds scored with 6:27 remaining. TJ Malone scored and the Nittany Lions came within a goal after attackman Grant Ament scored to cut Yale’s lead to 7-6 with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

“We couldn’t clear our throats,” Shay said. “We’ve got to do a better job of that. I think it was pretty sloppy for both teams. It’s an early season game. Only had our 12th practice the other day, so I think we’re, you know, we got a lot of work to do.”

Ament’s goal gave him 267 career points, the most of any player in Big Ten history.

“I played like dog crap in the first half, and I know that,” Ament said. “The competitor in me just kind of came out. I think the biggest thing is to just stay the course, and understand that the shots are eventually going to fall. It’s one of the harder things to do when you’re an athlete. Three turnovers and three missed shots, but kind of just kept pushing, and was able to get something on the scoreboard by the end of it.”

Yale’s midfielder freshman Logan Soelberg ended the run and widened the gap, scoring with 1:21 to go in the third, to five Yale an 8-6 lead heading into the final quarter.

Panzer’s crowd had been cheering and full of energy prior to Soelberg’s goal, with Penn State fans’ displeasure evident as the cheers of the crowd quieted down post goal.

The quiet didn’t last long, with Penn State pulling back within one again with midfielder sophomore Jack Traynor’s goal early in the fourth quarter, making the score 8-7.

Yale ramped things up in the last quarter, with goals by sophomore midfielder Sean Kuttin at 7:36 and junior midfielder Christian Cropp at 6:53 to give the Bulldogs a three-goal lead.

The last half of the fourth quarter was back and forth, with Penn State’s senior midfielder Kevin Hill scoring to close the gap to 10-8, and then Yale’s senior midfielder Lucas Cotler widening the gap to 11-8 with 3:58 left.

Yale’s sophomore attackman Matt Brandau scored with 3:21 remaining in the fourth, with the back and forth continuing until the final minutes of play, with goals by Penn State’s Malone and junior midfielder Jack Kelly to close out the scoring.

Yale’s dominant faceoff specialist TD Ierlan slowed down in the last quarter when Penn State won 5 of 9, but the senior still won 16 of 26 faceoffs in the game.

The win did not come easy for Yale.

“They were great, Colby (Kneese) was phenomenal today,” Shay said. “I thought they had a really good plan. It slowed us down a great deal. You know, we had a very difficult time adjusting, but, at the end of the day it ended up being just, punch for punch, I think we just got a few more goals in the end.”

Kneese, Penn State’s senior goalie, saved 16 of 28 shots on goal.

Yale continued its winning streak against Penn State, beating them for the third time in the last two years, including last year’s NCAA semifinal.

“I wouldn’t say we’re kryptonite by any means,” Shay said. “You know, I think that we have a ton of respect for them, and we’ve beat them a few times. There are plenty of teams that have beaten us a few times, and we don’t think in those terms.”