No. 10 Men's Lacrosse Travels to Annapolis to Challenge Navy in 41st All-Time Meeting

HISTORY

• Saturday’s contest between Navy and Penn State marks the 41st game in a series that dates back to 1919. The two programs had not met since 2003 when the two were members of the ECAC Lacrosse League, but rekindled the series 2 years ago when Penn State defeated the Mids 13-3 in Annapolis.
• Navy and Penn State are the 5th and 6th-oldest programs, respectively, in terms of how many years they have had varsity programs. This is Navy’s 119th year (848-398-14), while Penn State is in its 113th season (594-560-8).
• Navy has dominated the series 36-4 and holds a 30-1 advantage in games played in University Park.
• Navy won each of the first 32 games, including the inaugural meeting which took place in Annapolis in 1919. The Mids claimed that first meeting 13-0.

SCOUTING NAVY

• So far this season, Navy’s rope and ride unit ranks as one of the strongest in the country. The Mids post a clearing percentage of 92.9 percent, while their ride holds opponents to a successful clear just seven out of ten times. The Midshipmen’s clearing percentage is the sixth best nationally, while their opponent clear percentage mark ranks fourth.
• The other sepcialist unit for the Mids, their faceoff crew, is the sixth-most effectve unit in the country, winning 65.1 percent of the draws.
• The faceoff unit is headlined by Zach Hayashi and Colin Shadowens, who both rank in the top-30 nationally in faceoff win percentage.
• Navy was picked to finish third in the 2026 Patriot League Preseason Poll. Navy’s AJ Marsh was named the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and Zach Hayashi was named the Patriot League Preseason Faceoff Specialist of the Year. Joining Marsh and Hayashi on the preseason all-league team was Jack Ponzio.
• Co-captain Dan Daly heads into his 3rd year as the Mids’ starting goalkeeper. He is just 3 saves shy of moving past 2004 Kelly Award winner Matt Russell for 11th on the all-time saves leader board and needs 22 more saves to become the 11th player in school history to reach the 400-save milestone.

LAST TIME VS. NAVY

• Luke Walstrum’s five points drove the No. 10 Penn State men’s lacrosse team to a 13-7 victory over Navy in the team’s 2025
• The Nittany Lions opened the scoring with a goal by Liam Matthews, while the team was on the man advantage to put Penn State ahead 1-0 with 9:39 left in the opening quarter.
• Navy answered less than a minute later with a goal by Jack Nichtern with 8:49 remaining in the quarter to even the score at 1-1.
• Jack Aimone joined the scoring with a man up goal coming with 7:12 left in the quarter to put Penn State ahead 2-1.
• The Midshipmen countered with a goal by Roman LaRocco with 6:24 left in the quarter to tie the game at 2-2.
• With 2:07 remaining in the quarter, Kyle Lehman punched a goal in front of the Navy netminder to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 lead.
• Navy closed the quarter with a goal by Evan Conway to make the score tied at 3-3.
• The Midshipmen began the second quarter with another goal by Conway, with 11:33 left in the half to take a 4-3 lead.
• Matt Traynor responded with his first goal of the game coming with 9:06 left in the half as he fired his shot over the netminders’ stick to tie the game at 4-4.
• Aimone would score his second goal of the game with 5:55 left in the half as he launched his shot from long distance to put Penn State ahead 5-4.
• Luke Walstrum followed with a goal that went between the legs of the goalie with 5:12 left in the half, putting the Nittany Lions ahead 6-4.
• Aimone then banked his third goal of the game with 4:18 left in the half while on the man up to put Penn State ahead 7-4.
• Navy answered with a pair of goals by Jack Ponzio and Conway with 1:44 left to cut the Penn State lead to 7-6.
• The Nittany Lions closed the half with a goal by Walstrum on a spin move shot to put Penn State ahead 8-6 at the half.
• The Nittany Lions continued their offensive push in the third quarter with a goal by Will Peden with 12:24 left in the quarter as he ripped a shot from the slot to put Penn State ahead 9-6.
• With 4:24 left in the quarter, Matthews scored his second goal of the game from the bottom corner to put Penn State ahead 10-6.
• Navy ended the quarter with a goal by Jack Flaherty with six seconds left on the clock to narrow the Penn State lead to 10-7.
• The Nittany Lions dominated the last quarter, scoring three goals while holding Navy to zero.
• Traynor starting things off in the fourth with a goal coming with 10:33 left in the game to put the Nittany Lions ahead 11-7.
• Lehman followed suit with 6:28 remaining off an unassisted goal to put Penn State ahead 12-7.
• While the net was empty, Hunter Aquino found the back of the net to cap the 13-7 victory for Penn State, with 2:07 remaining in the quarter.
• Jack Fracyon tallied six saves and allowed just seven goals. His record improves to 3-1-0 on the year. 

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 14 Penn State men’s lacrosse returned to the win column with a statement victory over No. 3 Princeton, 13-7. The Nittany Lion’s first road contest of the season, coming on Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium in Princeton, N.J., had Penn State leading the whole way.
• The PSU offense put up 18 points with eight different Nittany Lions getting on the score sheet. The Blue & White shared the love on Valentine’s Day with all eight point-recorders scoring a goal.
• Sophomore Hunter Aquino led the scoring with a hat trick but proved to be effective in the ride as well, causing a pair of turnovers and scooping four groundballs. Redshirt seniors Luke Walstrum and Michael Faraone each posted three points on two goals and an assist. Graduate student John Jude Considine did the opposite, scoring on goal and dishing two apples. Freshman Jack Iannantuono finished two goals to round out the multi-goal scorers.
• Freshman netminder Preston Hawkins tallied his first win of the season, making a career-high 11 saves for a 61.1 save percentage. His defensive unit also stepped up, combining for eight caused turnovers, led by close defender Alex Ross’s three.
• Another big day at the faceoff X for Reid Gills and Colby Baldwin proved to be beneficial, with the duo combining to win 14-of-24 pulls and vacuuming six groundballs.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

• The win would mark move Penn State to a 3-1 record this season.
• The win would mark PSU’s fifth win all-time against the Midshipmen.
• A win wouldextend Penn State’s win streak in the all-time series to four, dating back to 2003.
• It would mark just the 11th win all-time for Penn State against a military academy. The Blue & White hold just a 10-66 combined roecrd against Air Force, Army, and Navy.

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.

Senior Alex Ross, sophomore Hunter Aquino, and freshman Preston Hawkins were recognized as this week’s Big Ten Players of the Week in their respective categories, creating a near-sweep of the awards for the Nittany Lions. Ross earned defensive honors, Aquino offensive, and Hawkins as the Freshman of the Week.

The three weekly awards mark the most in a single week since March 12, 2024, when PSU earned offensive, defensive, and specialist honors.

Princeton’s attack and midfield units entered the season regarded as two of the top five units in their respective roles across the country, but senior captain Alex Ross had other plans for the Tigers’ season opener. He matched his season high groundball and turnover marks in Penn State’s win at No. 3 Princeton over the weekend. He helped hold the Tiger’s attack and midfield core to just seven goals.

Aquino led the scoring for PSU against Princeton with a hat trick but proved to be effective in the ride as well, causing a pair of turnovers and scooping four groundballs. The caused turnover and groundball numbers each marked new career highs for the sophomore.

In his third start and second full game of his career, Hawkins put up a career-high 11 saves against a top three ranked Princeton team. The seven goals allowed proved to be a season low for Hawkins when playing a full game. It also marked the fewest goals scored by the Ivy League regular season title favorite since February 28, 2024, when Princeton put up seven goals against Maryland.

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.