ANNAPOLIS, Md.- No. 7 Penn State men’s lacrosse earned a 14-12 comeback victory over the reigning back-to-back National Champions Notre Dame in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions used a 8-0 scoring run over the last two quarters to rally back from a six-goal deficit midway through the third stanza. Penn State earns its third trip to the NCAA Final Four in program history and first since 2023. The Nittany Lions improve to 12-4, while the Fighting Irish finish their season with a 9-5 record.
Matt Traynor had another standout performance with a game high six goals and one assist to total seven points. Ethan Long and Kyle Lehman both produced hat tricks, Long also adding an assist while notching his 100th career point. Liam Matthews and Hunter Aquino each had one goal to complete the PSU scoring column.
Defensively, Jack Fracyon made nine saves between the pipes and collected three ground balls. Alex Ross led the close defense, scooping three ground balls and causing two turnovers. Kevin Parnham, Reid Gills and Jon King all had three ground balls apiece. Gills went 11-26 at the faceoff x to go with histr trio ground balls and also contributed a career best two caused turnovers.
FIRST QUARTER – 3-2 Notre Dame
- Penn State started the scoring with a goal off the stick of Traynor at the 14:02 mark.
- Fracyon made two back-to-back saves with the defense supplementing two stops to help their goalie and allow the offense to string together consecutive goals. Aquino used a catch and shoot goal to give PSU a two-goal edge.
- Following the first timeout of the quarter, Notre Dame won the ensuing faceoff and converted its first goal of the game. The Fighting Irish added two more consecutive goals to take a 3-2 lead.
SECOND QUARTER – 8-3 Notre Dame
- After an opening faceoff win from Gills, the Nittany Lions offense knotted the score at 3-3 following a ground ball and shot from Long.
- The Irish sparked a 5-0 scoring run to take a five-goal advantage throughout the remainder of the quarter.
THIRD QUARTER – 12-10 Penn State
- Traynor got the scoring started once again in the second half, cutting on a feed from Long at the circle.
- Traynor notched his sixth hat trick of the season with back-to-back goals, this time curling around the crease and shooting from the side.
- Notre Dame had the answer to push back to a four-goal edge.
- Despite being hounded by a defender, Lehman found space and nailed a shot from 10 yards out to cut the deficit to three.
- The Irish answered with three-straight goals including one in a man-up situation to make the score 12-6.
- Matthews found his first of the day to break up the Notre Dame scoring stretch and ignite what would become an 8-0 scoring run for the Nittany Lions.
- Long notched his 100th career point to score his second of the day off a feed from Traynor.
- The senior captain Traynor produced another Sports Center play, diving in the air as he came around the crease to add a fourth goal to his total.
FOURTH QUARTER – 14-12 Penn State
- The Nittany Lions controlled the fourth quarter both on the field and in the stands, with the PSU fans creating a dominant atmosphere while Penn State held Notre Dame scoreless throughout the comeback.
- Lehman added two more goals to start the stanza, one from the alley and one following a pass from Aquino.
- Traynor then had two back-to-back goals of his own, both unassisted. He battled through four defenders to score the first and outworked his defender and went low on the second.
- Long had the final goal of the game at the six-minute mark to complete his hat trick.
- The Penn State defense held strong through the remaining minutes of the contest, managing to escape Notre Dame offensive possessions by backing up shots and coming up with crucial ground balls.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Penn State advances to its third Final Four in program history, all coming under head coach Jeff Tambroni.
- The Nittany Lions earn their seventh win over the Fighting Irish while ending the back-to-back National Champions’ season.
- Traynor produced his seventh three-plus-goal outing and second six-plus outing of the season. He has scored a hat trick in both NCAA Tournament games thus far.
- Long becomes the second current Penn State player to notch 100 career points this season, adding his second hat trick of the season.
- The six-goal comeback is the Nittany Lions’ largest deficit they climbed back from this season.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions face no.1 Cornell at the Final Four in Foxborough, Mass. at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, May 24.