Villanova and No. 7 Nittany Lions Faceoff in Holuba Hall Saturday Afternoon

HISTORY

• Penn State leads the all-time series against the Wildcats, 20-9.
• The Nittany Lions have won three of the last five meetings, but the last 10 matchups are split evenly.
• Penn State last faced off against Villanova in the second week of action during the 2025 season. Penn State won the meeting, 15-5, after leading just 4-2 at the half.

SCOUTING VILLANOVA

• Villanova men's lacrosse was selected to finish second in the 2026 BIG EAST Preseason Poll, earning the lone non-Georgetown first place vote in the coaches' poll to grab second place. VU ended up just a few points behind the Hoyas for first place with Denver pulling up in third, Marquette in fourth and Providence and St. John's rounding out the final spots.
• In addition, three Wildcats earned mention on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team as upperclassmen Jake Melchionno, Colin Michener, and Jack Shoemaker each picked up unanimous honors. Star LSM Melchionni, who's switched numbers from 25 to 33, was the Co-Specialist of the Year in the conference last year, returning leading scorer Michener is a back-to-back recipient of the All-BIG EAST Second Team and Shoemaker was a unanimous all-league first teamer after a lockdown defensive season in 2025.
• The 'Cats are coming off an 8-7 season in 2025. The squad ended its season in the Big East Tournament finals, falling to No. 1 overall seed, Georgetown.
• Villanova's 2026 schedule features a loaded slate of opponents with four ranking in the KANE Media Poll's preseason top 20. Big East conference foe Georgetown tops the VU opponents with a 5th place projection while week one opposition Penn State is 7th, and two other non-conference opponents also make appearances (Towson at 16 and Rutgers at 18). Four others were receiving votes in the initial poll: Denver, Penn, Saint Joseph's and Delaware. This year's schedule for the 'Cats features three new opponents compared to last season's slate, including the Blue Hens who were last met in 2023, the Scarlet Knights who haven't been on the opposite sideline since 2014 and Towson who last played Villanova in 2009.

LAST TIME VS. VILLANOVA

• No. 7 Penn State men’s lacrosse posted a 15-5 win over in-state rival Villanova in a game where PSU All-American Matt Traynor tallied his 100th career point.
• Kyle Lehman scored the opening goal as he fired a goal from long distance off a feed by Jack Aimone to put Penn State ahead 1-0 with 9:50 left in the opening quarter. 
• Villanova shortly answered with a goal by Colin Michener as he scored the goal from the slot to even the game at 1-1 with 6:27 left in the first quarter. 
• Penn State quickly responded with a goal by Matt Traynor from the top corner off a feed by Kevin Parnham to put the Nittany Lions ahead 2-1 with 1:52 left in the quarter. 
• Villanova opened the second quarter with a wraparound goal by Luke Raynor with 14:04 left in the half to tie the game at 2-2. 
• Traynor scored his second goal of the game with 5:45 left in the second quarter from the bottom corner to put Penn State ahead 3-2.
• Ethan Long followed Traynor’s goal with one of his own as he found the back of the net with 1:32 left in the half as he ripped the goal on the run to put Penn State ahead 4-2 at the half. 
• Villanova opened the second half with a goal by Matt Licata off a spin move and score to narrow the Penn State lead to 4-3 with 11:56 left in the third quarter. 
• With 8:34 left in the quarter, Mack Prbylski netted a long-distance goal from the point to tie the game up at 4-4. 
• Penn State closed the quarter with four unanswered goals, starting with a goal by Ryan DiRocco as he launched the shot from the slot to put Penn State back in the lead 5-4. 
• With 1:31 left in the third quarter. Jack Aimone scored in front of the Villanova netminder to put Penn State ahead 6-4. 
• DiRocco soon followed with 30 seconds left in the quarter as he scored while battling a defender in front to put Penn State ahead 7-4. 
• Long closed out the quarter with a goal on the run to put Penn State ahead 8-4 with 15 second left in the third quarter. 
• The Nittany Lions continued their scoring rush in the fourth quarter as Traynor tallied his hat-trick with a goal coming with 13:23 in the quarter as he banked a goal from beyond the circle to put Penn State ahead 9-4. 
• Lehman continued the Penn State attack with a goal coming with 11:36 left in the fourth quarter as he dove and scored to put Penn State ahead 10-4. 
• With 11:10 left in the quarter, Mac Hobbs found his first goal of the game as he scored from beyond the arc to put the Nittany Lions ahead 11-4. 
• Hunter Aquino scored his first goal of the game coming with 7:54 left in the game on the wraparound to put Penn State ahead 12-4. 
• Traynor ran by the entire Villanova defense and scored his fourth goal of the game on the run to put Penn State ahead 13-4 with 7:14 left in the game. 
• David Link scored the last goal for the Wildcats with 5:49 left in the quarter as he leapt and scored to cut the Penn State lead to 13-5.
• With 5:36 left in the quarter, Colby Baldwin scooped and scored off the faceoff win to put Penn State ahead 14-5.
• Luke Walstrum capped off the Penn State attack with a goal coming with 3:57 left in the quarter as he buried the goal while diving in front of the goalie to put Penn State ahead 15-5.

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 7 Penn State men’s lacrosse prevailed in the opener to its 2026 campaign, overcoming deficit in the first half to defeat Colgate, 18-14 in Holuba Hall.
• The Nittany Lions outscored the Raiders in every quarter enroute to the win to move to 1-0 on the season. Colgate dropped to 0-1 after the Week 0 contest.
• Hunter Aquino set new career-highs with five goals on 15 shots, leading an offensive core that had 10 different goal scorers. The 2025 Big Ten Freshman of the Year added an assist to total six points and scooped two groundballs.
• Redshirt-senior Michael Faraone, after missing all of 2025 due to injury, recorded his first career hat trick in the season opener.
• Junior Kyle Lehman added three goals and two assists to round out the hat trick recipients.
• Other goalscorers included freshman Jack Iannantuno, sophomore Chase Robertson, redshirt-freshman Andrew Beard, redshirt-senior Luke Walstrum, junior Brendan Leary, senior Patrick Carragher, and junior Ryan DiRocco.
• Reid Gills played the grit game for the Nittany Lions, leading Penn State with seven groundballs, while fellow faceoff Colby Baldwin added six more and caused one of the Blue & White’s 11 forced turnovers. The two also combined to win 24 out of 35 faceoffs. Redshirt-freshman Hayes Schreiner picked up the win in relief, recording four saves.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

• The win would mark Penn State's second consecutive year with a 2-0 start. The last time Penn State started consecutive seasons 2-0 came in 2019 and 2020. Penn State finished the 2019 season as Big Ten Champions and made a run to the Final Four. The Nittany Lions started teh ensuing year with a 5-2 mark, including two top-20 wins, before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A win would add to Penn State's lead in the all-time series, moving the Blue & White to a 21-9 edge over the Wildcats.
• It would mark PSU's third straight win against Villanova, its first stretch of as many games since winning four straight from 2005 to 2009.

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 scorere, 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.