ANN ARBOR, Mich.- No. 7 Penn State men’s lacrosse dropped hard fought battle to no. 3 Maryland in Big Ten Tournament Semifinals. Despite a tough fight from the Nittany Lions, the Terrapins prevailed, winning by way of a 10-8 final score. Penn State falls to 10-4, 3-2 Big Ten while Maryland improves to 11-2, 3-2 Big Ten and heads to the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday.
A slow start for the PSU offense ramped up in the third quarter, during which Penn State scored four goals while holding the Terps scoreless. Liam Matthews guided the Nittany Lions attack as the sole multi-goal scorer, contributing two goals to the tally. Kyle Lehman, Ethan Long, Luke Walstrum, Matt Traynor, Jack Aimone and Patrick Carragher all scored one goal apiece. Reid Gills commanded the faceoff x, winning 18-22 attempts while collecting eight ground balls. Jon King played a major role in Penn State’s defensive efforts, causing two turnovers and scooping a career high seven ground balls. Kevin Parnham was also instrumental, posting two caused turnovers and gathering five ground balls.
FIRST QUARTER – 3-1 Maryland
- Maryland got out to an early advantage, scoring the first two goals over the course of five minutes of game time.
- Penn State got on the board in the eighth minute, Hunter Aquino shovel passing the ball to Aimone in front of the goal.
- The Terps had one final goal to close out the first stanza.
SECOND QUARTER – 6-2 Maryland
- Long found the back of the net 33 seconds into the frame, outworking his defender and going from the side with his shot.
- Maryland scored three-straight goals to pull ahead by four goals at the halftime break.
THIRD QUARTER – 6-6
- PSU sparked a four-goal run over the third quarter. After a scoreless eight minutes of action, Patrick Carragher found the netting off a helper from Traynor.
- Matthews went low with his shot as he was spinning to face the goal to bring the Nittany Lions within two.
- Walstrum was the next to add to the board. Long fed Walstrum with a strong pass right at the doorstep.
- Traynor had a sports-center-like play, shooting the ball behind his back on the run as the shot clock was winding down on a catch and shoot.
FOURTH QUARTER – 10-8 Penn State
- Maryland ended its 20-minute scoring drought but Penn State had an answer. Lehman had a laser shot off a pass from Carragher to knot the score at sevens.
- The Terps produced three-straight goals to create a deficit the Nittany Lions could not climb back from.
- Matthews had the final goal of the game with :06 on the clock to seal a 10-8 final score.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Penn State dominated the battle on the ground, collecting 26 ground balls to Maryland’s 19.
- Gills won 18 faceoffs for PSU, leaving UMD with just four faceoff wins. Gills set a new Penn State program record for most faceoff wins in a Big Ten Tournament game previously set by Billy Lombardi (2016) and Gerard Arceri (2021) with 16. He also set a new Big Ten Tournament record for ground balls with eight. The ground ball record was previously set by Arceri in 2019 with seven.
- Jon King notched a new career best seven ground balls and Parnham matched his career best with five.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions await Selection Sunday to see their fate in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The selection show is set to begin at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 4 on ESPNU.