No. 7 Men's Lacrosse Set for Big Ten Tournament Semifinal Matchup Against No. 3 Maryland

HISTORY

• Maryland leads the all-time series 42-4. Two wins for PSU came under head coach Jeff Tambroni in 2024 and 2019.
• The series dates back to 1916 as the Terrapins are one of PSU’s longest storied rivals.
• There has only been one overtime game between the squads in 2016.
• The Nittany Lions faced Maryland twice last season with UMD coming away with the regular season victory and PSU defeating Maryland 19-9 in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals. Matt Traynor led the offense with five goals and one assist. TJ Malone and Mac Costin each put up three goals and Kyle Lehman scored twice. Between the pipes, Jack Fracyon made 10 saves while only allowing eight goals.

SCOUTING MARYLAND

• Maryland finished the regular season 10-2, 3-2 Big Ten. After tying with Penn State and Michigan for the second seed in the conference tournament, Maryland prevailed as the two seed with wins over OSU and PSU.
• The Terps own seven top 20 wins this season.
• Will Schaller was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. He leads a Maryland defense that only gives up 7.67 goals per game, ranking the team second in the nation in scoring defense.
• Schaller, Logan McNaney and Eric Spanos landed on first team All-Big Ten while Jack McDonald was named to second team. Jack Schultz, Jonah Carrier and Peter Laake earned spots on the All-Freshman team.
• McNaney and Spanos were named to Inside Lacrosse’s Tewaaraton Top 25 List.
• As a team, UMD leads the conference in clearing percentage, man-down defense, saves per game, scoring defense, shot percentage and turnovers per game.  Logan McNaney sits at the top of the Big Ten in goals against average, only allowing 7.56 per game. He ranks second in saves per game (11.50) and save percentage (.603).

LAST TIME VS. MARYLAND

• The Terps took the regular season meeting back in March by a 13-8 final score in College Park.
• Kyle Lehman, Hunter Aquino and Matt Traynor all posted two goals each in the outing. Colby Baldwin dominated at the faceoff x winning 15-22 attempts.

LAST TIME OUT

• Penn State secured a 13-12 win over Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten Quarterfinals in Happy Valley on April 26.
• Despite a close game down to the last few minutes, the Nittany Lions came out victorious, earning their way to their second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Semifinal.
• Kyle Lehman led the offense with four goals and one assist. Jack Aimone and Matt Traynor were the other multi-goal scorers with two apiece.
• Luke Walstrum was instrumental in the passing game, posting a new career high four assists.
• Colby Baldwin led PSU at the faceoff x, winning 14-22 attempts. Reid Gills won two as well to lead the team to win the faceoff battle 16-29.
• Defensively, Baldwin and Traynor led the team in ground balls, Badlwin with eight and Traynor with five.
• Both Kevin Parnham and Alex Ross each posted two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
• Between the pipes, Jack Fracyon made eight saves.

LIONS IN THE RANKS

• Matt Traynor sits at the top of the B1G in points per game (4.27) and is second in goals per game (2.91).
• Kevin Parnham ranks 16th across the nation in caused turnovers per game (1.77) which is third in the Big Ten.
• Colby Baldwin has the 18th-best face-off winning percentage (.580) in the country, leading his team to the 13th-best faceoff win percentage. He is 20th in ground balls per game (5.77).
• Hunter Aquino is second in the Big Ten in assists per game (1.42) and Traynor is third (1.36).
• As a team, PSU leads the conference in several categories including points per game (20.77), man-up offense (.429), assists per game (8.08) and caused turnovers per game (10.46).

B1G HONORS

• Jack Fracyon was named the Big Ten Specialist of the Week following a strong performance against Villanova. He tallied 10 saves on 15 shot attempts. He also allowed just five goals, the third lowest number of goals allowed in his career.
• Hunter Aquino earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week after his first career hat-trick and two assists to total five points against no. 8 Princeton.
• Hunter Aquino notched his second Big Ten weekly honor, being tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Week this week (3/4) after a seven-point (two goals, five assists) performance against Yale.
• Colby Balwin was named the Big Ten Specialist of the Week this week (3/4) following a dominant 17-of-26 performance at the face-off x against Yale while adding a goal and an assist.
• Aquino earned his fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week nod (4/1) after posting two goals on two shots at no. 2 Maryland. He has garnered the most weekly awards of any player in the conference and is one award shy of matching the PSU program record for B1G Freshman of the Week nods set by Mac O’Keefe in 2017.
• Matt Traynor earned his first conference nod of the season and third of his career after posting seven goals and an assist against no. 19 Johns Hopkins.
• Hunter Aquino was tabbed the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after one goal, one caused turnover and two ground balls against JHOP. With this fifth award, he ties the program record for most Big Ten Freshman of the Week nods previously set by Mac O’Keefe.
• In the final week of Big Ten awards, Jack Fracyon was named the Specialist of the Week and Hunter Aquino was the Freshman of the Week, breaking a PSU record.
• Matt Traynor was named the Big Ten Offensive Player, marking PSU’s third consecutive year claiming this award. He was also named to first team All-Big Ten.
• Hunter Aquino is the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, marking PSU’s first time having a player win this honor. He also landed on the All-Freshman team.
• Alex Ross earned second team All-Big Ten and Liam Matthews joined Aquino on the All-Freshman team.
• Richie Hughson took home Penn State’s Sportsmanship Award.