No. 9/8 Men's Lacrosse Falls to No. 7/6 Georgetown 12-9 in NCAA Tournament First RoundNo. 9/8 Men's Lacrosse Falls to No. 7/6 Georgetown 12-9 in NCAA Tournament First Round
Steven Walter

No. 9/8 Men's Lacrosse Falls to No. 7/6 Georgetown 12-9 in NCAA Tournament First Round

WASHINGTON - The No. 9/8 Penn State men's lacrosse team fell to No. 7/6 Georgetown 12-9 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Matt Traynor scored the opening goal for the Nittany Lions to give them a 1-0 lead with 12:32 remaining in the first quarter.
  • TJ Malone soon followed with a goal with 10:22 left in the quarter to put Penn State ahead 2-0.
  • Georgetown answered with a goal coming with 7:42 left in the quarter to narrow the Penn State lead to 2-1.
  • The Nittany Lions fired back-to-back goals from Luke Mercer and Matt Traynor to close out the quarter to take a 4-1 lead after one.
  • TJ Malone opened the scoring in the second with a goal coming with 13:04 remaining in the half to increase the Penn State lead to 5-1.
  • Georgetown countered with a goal coming with 10:16 remaining in the half to cut the Penn State lead to 5-2.
  • Matt Traynor and Luke Walstrum each scored goals soon after to give Penn State a 7-2 lead with 6:58 left in the half.
  • The Hoyas closed the half with four unanswered goals to narrow the Penn State lead to 7-6 at the half.
  • Walstrum started the third quarter with a goal with 10:40 left in the quarter to improve Penn States lead to 8-6.
  • Jordan Wray answered for Georgetown to cut the Penn State lead back to one with 6:42 left.
  • Sean Donnelly ended the quarter with a goal coming with 3:40 left to send the game into the four quarter with Penn State ahead 9-7.
  • The Hoyas were the only team to score in the fourth quarter as they fired five unanswered goals to come out with the 12-9 defeat for the Nittany Lions.

GOALTENDERS

  • Junior Jack Fracyon tallied 13 saves in the game while his record dropped to 11-5.

STATS AND NOTES

  • On Penn State's seventh goal, TJ Malone recorded his 100th career assist. He's now the fourth Nittany Lion in program history to break 100 assists in a career.
  • Malone closes his career tied for third all-time in points at 252 with 152 goals and 100 assists.
  • The Nittany Lions finished the 2024 season with a 11-5 record and 3-2 record in Big Ten play.
  • Penn State is now 4-7 in the NCAA tournament.
  • It's the first time since 2017 the Nittany Lions were eliminated in a first-round game.