UNC and PSU Square Off in Top-10 Neutral Site Battle

HISTORY

• Saturday’s contest between North Carolina and Penn State marks the 11th game in a series that dates back to 1976. The two programs have not faced off since 2012. Prior to the standalone 2012 date, PSU and UNC had not met since 1996.
• North Carolina has dominated the series, leading 10-0 all time to date.
• In the last meeting, North Carolina escaped with a 14-10 victory in both team’s season openers. The game, also at a nuetral site, was played at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA

• At one point ranked No. 1 in the country, North Carolina finds themselves at fifth in this week’s Inside Lacrosse poll.
• The Tar Heels are one of the best teams in the country at the faceoff. Ranking second nationally and first in the ACC, the team from Chapel Hill wins 65.5 percent of their pulls from the dot.
• The faceoff group is headlined by Brady Wambach, who ranks fourth nationally (69.5 percent) among faceoff athletes. Only Henry Dodge, Justin Alexander, and the Nittany Lion’s own Reid Gills win faceoffs at a higher rate.
• Wambach is the nations leader in groundballs per game, averaging 11.57.
• UNC’s dynamic duo of Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala lead the offensive charge for the Tar Heels.
• Duffy ranks second nationally in points per game (2.86) and 12th nationally in assists per game (4.71).
• Pietramala ranks fifteenth nationally in goals per game, scoring 3.14 per contest.
• Aided in part due to the faceoff dominance, UNC is top three nationallay in groundballs per game, scooping 39.29 per contest.
• The Tar Heels are also fourth nationally in scoring offense (15.71) and scoring margin (6.86).

LAST TIME VS. UNC

• The No. 17 Penn State men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 6 North Carolina, 14-10, at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga., Saturday afternoon. Penn State dropped to 0-1 with the season-opening loss, while the Tar Heels opened the season 1-0.
• Senior Matthew Mackrides and juniors Nick Dolik and Kyle VanThof tallied a pair of goals each, while senior Jack Forster led the squad with three helpers. Senior Ryan Link matched a game high with five ground balls. Sophomore Austin Kaut made 15 saves while North Carolina goalkeeper Steven Rastivo stopped 18 Penn State attempts.
• The Tar Heels controlled the ground ball and faceoff battles, 40-28, and, 21-9, respectively. Penn State converted on 3-of-6 extra-man opportunities while North Carolina went 1-for-2.
• North Carolina, which took a 2-1 first-quarter lead, opened the scoring with Mark McNeill’s goal at 2:33. Following a pushing penalty on the Tar Heels’ Logan Corey, freshman Pat Manley tallied his first collegiate goal at 4:45 of the period. Sophomore Shane Sturgiscollected an assist on the play.
• The Tar Heels outscored Penn State, 6-4, in the second quarter en route to the 8-5 halftime advantage. North Carolina potted the frame’s first three goals in a 5:37 span before Link’s marker cut the lead to 5-2. Following the Tar Heel’s third straight goal, Link controlled the ensuing faceoff and scored with 9:15 left in the half.
• Marcus Holman tallied his second goal of the half with 4:35 remaining to recapture the Tar Heels’ four-goal lead. Kaut then stopped North Carolina’s next two attempts before Dolik responded for Penn State with 3:08 left in the half to make it a 6-3 contest.
• The Tar Heels tallied twice more in a 15-second span to take an 8-3 lead, but Penn State responded with the final two goals of the stanza. Sturgis tallied his first goal of the season on the next possession, and Mackrides made it an 8-5 game with a man-up goal with 19 seconds remaining with Forster registering an assist on the goal.
• The beginning of the third quarter mirrored that of the second with North Carolina scoring the first three markers, including one man-up tally, in the first 4:47. Dolik then netted his second of the game with 8:28 remaining before sophomore Tom LaCrosse tallied less than two minutes later to make it an 11-7 game.
• In the first possession of the final frame, VanThof brought Penn State to within three, 11-8, just 25 seconds into the period. North Carolina answered twice in 34-second span before VanThof tallied a man-up goal for his second of the period with 8:36 left. The Tar Heels responded with 3:20 left before Mackrides’ goal from Forster with 31 seconds remaining in the game accounted for the 14-10 final.

THE TIES THAT BIND

• Head coach Jeff Tambroni’s final assistant roll came at Cornell from 1997-2000. During that time he worked under head coach Dave Pietramala. The tandem guided the Big Red to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 1995 in the 200 season. Following Pietramala’s departure to Johns Hopkins, Tambroni filled the vacancy in Ithaca, leading the Big Red to several more NCAA Tournament appearances, and ultimately a run in 2009 that saw Cornell finish as national runners up to Syracuse.
• Today, Pietramala serves as the defensive coordinator at UNC. The former coworkers are facing off for the first time since May 4, 2019, when Tamboni’s Penn State took down Pietramala’s Jays, 18-17, in an overtime thriller in the Big Ten Championship game. An assistant coach version of John Haus was also on the sideline that day. At the time in just his second season with the program, he led the Nittany Lions to their first ever Big Ten Tournament title. One more familiar name in that game was on the field. Nittany Lion assistant Nick Cardile was in his junior season in 2019. The defender scooped two groundballs and caused three turnovers in the outing, securing a spot on the All-Big Ten Tournament Team.

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 14 Penn State men’s lacrosse dominated No. 7 Cornell, 19-7, at Panzer Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
• The Nittany Lion’s completed the sweep of Ivy League foes in 2026 with Saturday’s win powered by two seven-goal quarters from Penn State. The Nittany Lions improved to 4-2 with the victory, while Cornell dropped to 3-2.
• The PSU offense put up 31 points with seven different Nittany Lions finding the net. The Blue & White attack was led by senior Kyle Lehman, who put up a sock trick and dished an assist for seven points. The Ambler, Pennsylvania native also scooped a pair of groundballs.
• Redshirt senior Michael Faraone, redshirt sophomore Liam Matthews, and freshman Jack Iannantuono each put away a hat trick and fed an assist for four points. Redshirt freshman Andrew Beard rounded out multi-goal scorers with two tallies and an apple for three points. Sophomore Chase Robertson was the day’s top assister, feeding three helpers.
• Freshman netminder Preston Hawkins earned his fourth win of the season, making nine saves on a 60.0 save percentage. His defensive unit helped force 20 Cornell turnovers, 14 by direct cause.
• Senior Alex Ross and senior John King both caused three turnovers and combined for seven groundballs. The pair also chipped in offensively, each putting up and assist.
• Penn State won 18-of-29 faceoffs, led by sophomore Reid Gills who won 13 of his 16 spins and vacuumed nine groundballs.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN

• A win would move Penn State to a 5-2 record this season.
• It would mark a third top-ten win this season
• Be the first ever Nittany Lion win over the Tar Heels. Penn State is 0-10 all time against North Carolina.
• Mark Coach Tambroni’s first ever win against UNC. Head coach Jeff Tambroni is 0-3 in his career against UNC, losing once while at PSU, and twice while at Cornell.
• Signify the 22nd win all-time for Penn State against a current ACC opponent. The Blue & White trails in the combined series, 21-86. This includes games against Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Virginia.

WEEKLY LOOKS

• For the first time since week two of the 2020 season (February 18) and just the third time ever since the Big Ten began awarding weekly position group honors in 2015, the conference offices have announced a sweep of the weekly men’s lacrosse awards. Nittany Lions Reid Gills, Preston Hawkins, Kyle Lehman, and Alex Ross took home the specialist, freshman, offensive player, and defensive player of the week honors, respectively, after the team’s 19-7 win over Cornell. It marks the first time in Penn State program history that PSU swept the Big Ten weekly honors. Only Maryland and Ohio State have done it before.
• No. 7 Cornell, which entered this past weekend as the nation’s third best team at the faceoff, was bullied at the X by the tandem of Reid Gills and Colby Baldwin. Gills posted an impressive faceoff win percentage over 80 percent, far exceeding the Nittany Lions average this season. The 18 team wins at the dot mark the most surrendered by the Big Red since February 25, 2025, and just the fourth time Cornell has lost the faceoff battle since that date. Gills alone went 13-for-16 at the faceoff, scooping nine groundballs. In addition to being named the Big Ten’s Specialist of the Week, Gills was also recognized nationally as part of the USILA Team of the Week.
• Hawkins allowed just six goals from the reigning national champions, posting the lowest goals allowed average of his career. In the contest, the freshman made nine saves for a 60.0 save percentage. A threat out of the cage as well, he caused a pair of turnovers on picked passes, and scooped five groundballs, tied for the most by any Penn State non-faceoff athlete in the game.
• Lehman led the Penn State offense this past weekend, pushing the Nittany Lions to a fourth non-conference win. The junior posted six goals and dished an apple for seven points on the day, marking the most by a Nittany Lion since Matt Traynor in the 2025 NCAA Quarterfinals. A gritty attackman, two of Lehman six tallies came unassisted. The attacker also scooped a pair of groundballs in the outing.
• Ross captains a stingy Penn State defense that has analytically seen one of the best turnarounds in college lacrosse. His unit allowed just seven goals from the Big Red on their 40 possessions and had the nation’s best defensive efficiency this week. Ross’s unit allowed just two shots the entire first quarter, helping his team to a 7-0 lead after the first 15. Continuing to be a threat in transition, the senior tallied his second point of the season, this time on an assist. Defensively, he accounted for four groundballs and three caused turnovers.

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.