UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- No. 15 Penn State men’s lacrosse roars to 17-7 victory over Yale on Saturday, February 28 in Panzer Stadium. The Nittany Lions improve to 3-2 on the season while Yale falls to 2-2 overall. Penn State commanded an early 3-0 lead that it never relinquished to secure the win.
Freshman attackman Jack Iannantuono dominated offensively, tallying six points on two goals and four assists. Redshirt senior Luke Walstrum followed with five points, compiled from two goals and three helpers. Graduate student John Jude Considine and redshirt senior Michael Faraone were the other two multi-goal scorers for Penn State with two apiece.
Senior Alex Ross led the defensive charge for the Nittany Lions, causing three turnovers and corralling four ground balls. Senior Will Costin not only contributed defensively with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, but he tallied his first goal of the season and second of his career. The faceoff duo of Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills was prominent, winning 21-of-28 attempts at the dot.
FIRST QUARTER - 4-1 Penn State
- Penn State took a 3-0 lead over the first 4:35 of the contest, forcing Yale to utilize an early timeout. After a turnover on their first offensive possession, the Nittany Lions converted on each of their next three trips down the field. Iannantuono was a catalyst for all three goals, scoring two and assisting Walstrum on the third.
- Yale managed to tally its first goal at the 5:57 mark, following a PSU turnover on the other side of the field.
- The next goal came off the stick of Aquino after another apple from Iannantuono. Aquino lasered the ball to the top left corner past the Bulldogs netminder to give the Nittany Lions a 4-1 advantage at the end of the first frame.
SECOND QUARTER - 9-2 Penn State
- PSU picked up right where it left off, finding the back of the net following its first faceoff win. Faraone used a pass from Patrick Carragher to go low to high for the score.
- After an Alex Ross forced turnover, Will Costin took the ball all the way to the goal on the clear for his first of the season.
- The Nittany Lions continued their offensive dominance with a seventh goal following a video dispute. Mark Watters dove in front of the goal to give Penn State a six-gal edge with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.
- The Penn State defense continued to suffocate, causing turnovers on its defensive end while allowing the offense to tack on points. Carragher found his first goal of the afternoon off a pass from Iannantuono.
- Yale used an extra-man opportunity to add its second goal following a holding call on Reid Gills.
- A catch and shoot dart off the stick Andrew Beard gave PSU a 9-2 lead at the halftime break. Walstrum cut in front of the goal and passed behind to a wide-open Beard.
THIRD QUARTER - 15-5 Penn State
- After a series of missed offensive opportunities for both squads Liam Matthews got the scoring started in the second half off a feed from Walstrum. He found Robertson from X, cutting in front of the goal.
PSU replicated that play with Walstrum feeding the ball to Chase Robertson cutting out front. - The Bulldogs broke their dry spell with three consecutive goals to lessen the gap to a six-goal differential.
- Following a timeout, the Nittany Lions went on a 4-0 run to create an _-point margin. Walstrum started the stretch by creating an open lane to the goal for his first of the day.
- Considine owned two goals in the offensive spark including one unassisted and one with a helper from Aquino. Kyle Lehman also found one in the run from nearly 20 yards out off a pass from Beard to balloon the PSU lead to 15-5 at the end of the third period.
FOURTH QUARTER - 17-7 Penn State
- Faraone found the back of the net for the second time today on a man-up situation while Iannantuono tallied his fourth assist of the day.
- Yale converted its second extra-man goal of the contest after a scoreless stretch for both teams.
- The Bulldogs tallied their seventh goal at the 5:16 mark to decrease their deficit to nine goals.
- Wes Scurci added his first goal of the season, creating his own space on an out-of-bounds play to finalize a 17-7 Penn State win.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Penn State improved to 6-5 in the all-time series against the Bulldogs.
- Penn State earned its 65th win all-time against an Ivy League opponent.
- PSU’s win streak in the series movs to five, dating back to the 2022 season.
- Iannantuono’s six points mark a single-game high for the freshman.
- Walstrum’s five points tie his single-game record, marking a third time he has hit a handful in his career.
- The combined 21 faceoff wins for the Nittany Lions marks the second time this season that PSU eclipsed 20+ wins at the draw.
UP NEXT
Penn State continues home stint against third-ranked Cornell next Saturday, March 7. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. on B1G+ at Panzer Stadium.
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