UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 8 Penn State men’s lacrosse downs no. 19 Johns Hopkins in convincing fashion in front of 2,017 fans at Panzer Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Leadership from Matt Traynor on offense and Jack Fracyon between the pipes guided the Nittany Lions to their second-straight Big Ten win and eighth of the season. PSU improves to 8-3, 2-2 Big Ten while JHU falls to 6-6, 0-4 Big Ten.
Traynor matched his career high seven goals and eight points in the outing. He also scooped four ground balls which is a season best and matches his best mark in Big Ten play. The other three PSU goals came off the sticks of Luke Walstrum, Jack Aimone and Hunter Aquino. While Ethan Long didn’t add to the goal total, he contributed two helpers and a ground ball. Defensively, Fracyon made seven saves as the netminder while only allowing four goals past, a season low and Big Ten low. He also fought for five ground balls. Kevin Parnham was another key contributer in the defensive disruption, forcing three turnovers and collecting a ground ball while also adding an assist on the offensive end. Colby Baldwin had another strong effort at the faceoff x, winning 9-of-16.
FIRST QUARTER – 1-1
- Powerful defensive performances and offensive miscues were the cause of a knotted 1-1 score after 15 minutes of game time. Neither team put a point across for over 10 minutes of the quarter.
- PSU’s Traynor struck first at 4:27 off a feed from Parnham in transition.
- Hopkins managed a goal in the final three minutes, making the score even heading into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER – 7-2 Penn State
- The Nittany Lions engaged in a 4-0 scoring run over a span of six minutes to begin the second stanza.
- Traynor had two goals during the stretch, one from his own work and one off a pass from Aimone.
- Walstrum had the first goal in the run after Long found him in front of the net. Aimone had a goal of his own also with the assist coming from Long as the third goal in the scoring frame.
- The Blue Jays added one goal at the seven-minute mark but Traynor answered with back-to-back goals off helpers from Kyle Lehman and Will Peden to push PSU to a five-goal advantage at the halftime break.
THIRD QUARTER – 9-4 Penn State
- Traynor’s personal scoring run continued into the third quarter as he scored both of Penn State’s goals during the stanza before JHU could get one across. He found his sixth and seventh goals at the 11:21 and 5:50 mark respectively.
- Johns Hopkins threatened with two goals but the Nittany Lions still maintained a five-goal edge at the end of the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER – 10-4 Penn State
- Scoring was scarce in the final period after stretches of turnovers and missed offensive opportunities.
- Aquino had the lone goal of the quarter on an extra man opportunity with 1:25 on the game clock.
- The PSU defense held JHU scoreless for the entirety of the stanza.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Traynor matched his career high seven goals but produced a new Big Ten best mark previously set at five goals. He also added an assist to match his personal best overall points number but secure a new conference high previously at six points. He also collected four ground balls, a season high.
- Fracyon’s seven saves with only four goals allowed is a season low for the senior netminder. He also notched a season-best five ground balls.
- Alex Ross (3), Brenden Leary (4), Colby Baldwin (5), Fracyon (5) and Traynor (4) all had multiple ground balls.
- Parnham’s three caused turnovers added to the Nittany Lions total of 11 CTs on the afternoon. He also posted an assist and a ground ball.
- Penn State outshot Johns Hopkins 50-30. The Nittany Lions also won the ground ball battle 34-25.
- PSU was more effective in the clearing game, at an 18-21 rate and was dominant at the faceoff x, winning 10-17.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions conclude the regular on Friday, April 18 as they host Rutgers for their senior night. Game time is slated for 6 p.m. and will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.