Men's Lacrosse Opens 2026 Campaign Against Colgate

HISTORY

• Penn State leads the all-time series against the Raiders, 16-10, including a pair of wins during the 2025 season.
• The Nittany Lions have won five of the last six meetings, with the lone stumble in the stretch coming in the 2024 season opener.
• Penn State last faced off against Colgate in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, where the Blue & White took a 13-11 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.

SCOUTING COLGATE

• As the 2025 Patriot League Champions, Colgate looks to build on its success down the stretch last season to make another run in the conference.
• Last season's campaign ended in a defeat at the hands of the Nittany Lions for the Raiders. Colgate dropped an 13-11 decision at Panzer Stadium in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The Raiders graduated 18 seniors from last year's roster, including a trio of All-American honorable mentions according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA).
• Colgate's captainship is headed by returning seniors Hunter Drouin and Patty Eldredge. Drouin, a USILA Third-Team Preseason All-American and an All-America honorable mention from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine, was been named to the All-Patriot League preseason team as a midfielder. Eldredge, known for leading in the midfield, appeared in all 18 games for the Raiders last season. He scored three goals, vacuumed 14 groundballs, and caused five turnovers.

LAST TIME VS. COLGATE

• No. 7 Penn State men’s lacrosse earned an 13-11 win over No. 15 Colgate in the NCAA First Round to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals, the first win enroute to PSU's third-ever Final Four appearance.
• A back-and-forth contest was rounded out by a 3-0 Nittany Lions run over the last few minutes of the game to seal the win.
• An outstanding performance for the freshman faceoff Reid Gills, who went 21-of-28 at the faceoff X, was a key component in the victory.
• Sophomore Liam Matthews guided the Penn State offense with four goals including two in the PSU 3-0 run down the stretch.
• Senior Ethan Long led the team in points, tallying one goal and three assists.
• Senior Matt Traynor produced his fifth hat trick of the 2025 season with three goals to go with a career-best eight ground balls.
• Senior Jack Aimone was the final multi-goal scorer for PSU with two. Kyle Lehman, Will Costin and Will Peden rounded out the goal scorers with one apiece.
• Defensively, senior Kevin Parnham was the key disruptor, causing four turnovers and scooping six ground balls.
• As a team, Penn State caused a program NCAA Tournament record 18 turnovers.
• Then-sophomore Brendan Leary (3), junior Ryan O’Connor (2), senior Jack Fracyon (2) and junior Jon King (2) all had multiple caused turnovers.

LAST TIME OUT

• In Penn State's third trip to the NCAA Final Four and second in the last three seasons, the Nittany Lions battled for 60 minutes against top-seeded Cornell, but ultimately fell in an 11-9 decision.
• Penn State concluded its season with a 12-5 overall record while Cornell advanced to the National Championship, where the Big Red went on claim the title.
• Liam Matthews paced the offense with four goals including two in behind-the-back fashion. He also added one groundball, and one caused turnover.
• Matt Traynor was the only other multi-goal scorer with two on the afternoon, pushing his streak to 10 games scoring at least one goal.
• Kyle Lehman, Ethan Long and Will Peden each produced one goal apiece to total nine as a squad.
• The netminder Jack Fracyon made eight saves between the pipes, while getting involved outside the goal mouth by corralling five groundballs and causing two turnovers.
• Jon King led the Nittany Lions in groundballs, recording six to go with one caused turnover.
• Alex Ross was tasked with guarding CJ Kirst, a consensus first team All-American. Ross held the 2026 Tewaawaton winner to no goals for the first time that season, and no points for the only time in his career.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

• The win would mark Penn State's second consecutive year winning its season opener. The Blue and White would move to 12-4 in season openers under head coach Jeff Tambroni, and 59-53-1 all-time in campaign opening contests.
• A win would add to Penn State's lead in the all-time series, moving the Blue & White to a 17-10 edge over Colgate.
• It would mark PSU's third straight win against the Raiders, dating back to last season's opener. That streak would match the second-longest win streak over Colgate in the all-time series. The only streak longer lasted 10 games and spanned over 25 seasons from 1931-1955.

PRESEASON NODS

• After putting the nation on notice in 2025, sophomore Hunter Aquino and senior Alex Ross raked in the preseason honors this year.
• Aquino, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was recognized as a Second Team All-American by USILA and Inside Lacrosse, and earned a third-team spot on USA Lacrosse Magazines list.
• Ross was was a second-team honoree according to Inside Lacrosse, while he picked up third-team honors from USA Lacrosse Magazine.
• Senior captian Jon King joined the duo on Inside Lacrosse's list, earning an honorable mention recognition.
• The trio were named Big Ten Players to Watch by the conference offices prior to the start of the 2026 slate.
• The USILA preseason list also recognined short-stick Brendan Leary as a Third-Team Preseason All-American, alongside Aquino.