No. 14 Men's Lacrosse Takes First Road Trip of the 2026 Campaign

HISTORY

• Princeton leads the all-time series against the Nittany Lions, 4-1.
• The Nittany Lions and Tigers have played just once in Princeton, New Jersey, with Princeton taking the 1998 meeting, 13-5.
• Princeton and PSU faced off in 2023 and 2025, spliting each ofthe meetings, both of which were decided by a single goal.
• The meeting last year, moved inside Holuba Hall due to inclement weather, went to overtime after a 10-10 stalemate in regulation. The visiting Tigers secured the win in the extra frame.

SCOUTING PRINCETON

• Princeton men’s lacrosse was selected to finish first in the 2026 Ivy League Preseason Poll.
• The Tigers have won two of the last three Ivy League tournament titles and enter 2026 chasing a fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
• The Princeton offense is regarded as one of the best in the nation without yet having played a game this season. Per Inside Lacrosse’s 2026 Unit Rankings, the Tigers boast the top attack unit and No. 2-ranked midfield unit.
• Leading the midfield unit for PU is the preseason Midfielder of the Year, Chad Palumbo. Palumbo is a preseason first-tea All-American and a Tewaaraton watch list honoree. The attack core is led by Peter Buonanno, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, who is moving up to attack group instead of coming out of the box. He joins returners Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri, who have started every game together dating back to their club lacrosse days.
• In addition to the offensive prowess, Inside Lacrosse also identified the Tigers’ specialist unit as a top group nationally. Per the publication, “The most complete defensive midfield tandem in the country features Cooper Mueller and Jackson Green. Add the monster of muscle mass in Andrew McMeekin looking to recapture his 2024 form and a versatile pole like Jack Stahl and you’ve got a sure-fire Top 3 group here.”
• Princeton also returns senior netminder Ryan Croddick. With a 56.6 save percentage and a 11.04 goals allowed average, Croddick is the reigning two-time Ivy League Goalkeeper of the Year. In the preseason, Coddrick was recognized as a third-team All-American.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON

• The No. 9 Penn State men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 8 Princeton, 11-10, in an overtime thriller on Saturday afternoon.
• Princeton jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 9:53 left in the first quarter off goals by Colin Burns and Coulter Mackesy.
• Penn State found the net halfway through the first quarter with a Mac Hobbs wraparound shot just outside the crease to cut the Princeton lead to 2-1 with 7:14 left in the quarter.
• Burns found the back of the net again with 3:25 left in the quarter to put the Tigers ahead 3-1.
• Hobbs answered for a second time in the frame as he fired a goal from the slot to narrow the Princeton lead to 3-2.
• Mackesy shortly scored for Princeton with 1:19 left in the opening quarter to regain a two-goal lead over the Nittany Lions.
• The Nittany Lions closed out the first quarter with a goal by Hunter Aquino as he banked his goal from the corner to narrow the Princeton lead to 4-3 with 26 seconds left in the quarter.
• Mackesy opened the second quarter for Princeton with a goal coming with 12:05 left in the half to put the Tigers ahead 5-3.
• Carsen Krammer shortly added to the Tigers’ lead on a goal coming with 10:55 left in the half to give Princeton a 6-3 lead.
• Aquino tallied his second goal of the game with 10:07 left in the half as he was score unassisted to cut the Princeton lead to 6-4.
• Both sides went back and forth as Jackson Green for Princeton with 6:51 left in the quarter to give Princeton a 7-4 lead.
• Matt Traynor soon after banked his first goal of the game with 3:50 left in the half which narrowed the Princeton lead to 7-5.
• Mackesy and Traynor each exchanged goals to close the half with Princeton ahead 8-6.
• Colin Burns scored the lone goal of the third quarter coming with 10:52 left in the quarter to put Princeton up 9-6.
• Aquino captured a hat-trick with a goal coming with 13:13 left in the fourth quarter which narrowed the Tigers lead to 9-7.
• Less than a minute later, Traynor found the back of the net for the second time coming with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter to cut the Tigers’ lead to 9-8.
• Following a goal by Mackesy with 9:49 left in fourth, Traynor scored back-to-back goals coming with 9:43 and 5:06 left in the quarter to tie the game up at 10-10.
• In overtime, Burns found the back of the net to secure the 11-10 victory for the Tigers.
• Senior Jack Fracyon tallied 10 saves and allowed 11 goals in the loss. His record drops to 2-1 on the year.
• Princeton goalie Ryan Croddick tallied 21 saves in the win and allowed 10 goals. His record improves to 1-0 on the year.

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 7 Penn State men’s lacrosse fell to Villanova, 14-13, in Holuba Hall, dropping PSU to 1-1 on the season, while VU improves to 1-0.
• The back-and-forth affair saw nine tie scores and three lead changes.
• Penn State’s offense, though quieter than last weekend, posted 19 points on the afternoon. Sophomores Chase Robertson and Hunter Aquino each clocked hat tricks in the outing. Aquino also tallied and assist for four points.
• Freshman Jack Iannantuaono matched Aquino with four points, scoring his second career goal and dishing three apples.
• Kyle Lehman was the team’s third leading scorer, putting away a pair of goals.
• Senior defender Alex Ross’s pole goal was the score to force overtime, headlining a list of five other Nittany Lions to tally a point.
• Freshman netminder Preston Hawkins finished his first career game, posting eight saves and scooping a pair of groundballs in the contest.
• Lucca DiBartolomeo caused a trio of turnovers to lead PSU in the category, while vacuuming three groundballs.
• At the faceoff, Reid Gills and Colby Baldwin combined for 18 wins on 31 pulls. Gills scooped seven groundballs while Baldwin added six.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

• The win would mark Penn State’s third consecutive year with a 2-1 start.
• The win would mark Penn State’s first ranked win of the season, and first since toppling No. 10 Notre Dame in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
• A win would help Penn State’s close the gap in the all-time records, moving series to 4-2 all-time in favor of the Tigers.
• It would mark PSU’s first win in the series since the 1998 season when the Nittany Lions took away a 13-5 victory.
• The win would move Penn State to a 68-49-1 record all-tine against all Ivy League opponents. PSU has faced off against all Ivy League programs except Brown.
• A win would mark Penn State’s 30th win against Division I programs in the Garden State.

WEEKLY LOOKS

• In limited week zero action across the country, sophomore faceoff Reid Gills dominated the faceoff X, winning 15-of-19 faceoffs, scooping seven groundballs, and dishing an assist to the team's leading scorer, Hunter Aquino. For his efforts, Gills was named the Big Ten Specialist of the Week.

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.

TEWAARATON TIME

• Penn State senior Alex Ross and sophomore Hunter Aquino were each named to the initial 2026 Tewaaraton watch list.
• The prestigious award, which recognizes the top man and woman lacrosse athletes across all divisions.
• In the past two seasons, Penn State has had a pair of Tewaaraton Award nominees (in mid-April, the Tewaaraton commitee narrows down the watch list to 25 names per gender to created the nominee’s list). Matt Traynor was a two-time recognizee (2024, 2025) and Jack Fracyon was named to the list in 2024.