No. 9 Men’s Lacrosse Downs No. 11 Maryland in Front of Record Setting CrowdNo. 9 Men’s Lacrosse Downs No. 11 Maryland in Front of Record Setting Crowd

No. 9 Men’s Lacrosse Downs No. 11 Maryland in Front of Record Setting Crowd

PSU took down Maryland for its first time ever at Panzer Stadium, earning just the fifth win all-time against UMD

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 9 Penn State men’s lacrosse opened conference action with a 10-6 win over No. 11 Maryland in University Park, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon. The victory signified the first win for PSU over UMD since the 2024 season, and just the fifth time in program history the Nittany Lions topped the Terrapins. The game, played in front of the largest ever crowd at Panzer Stadium, saw PSU jump out to a two-goal lead before the Terrapins had a pair of answers. The Nittany Lions then tallied five straight and never looked back, giving the 2,532 fans a show on home turf.

The PSU offense saw a pair of multi-goal scorers in senior Mac Hobbs and sophomore Chase Robertson. Each tallied two goals. Redshirt senior Luke Walstrum was the leading point scorer, scoring a goal and dishing three assists for four points. Junior Kyle Lehman followed with a goal and two apples for three points. Lehman packed the stat sheet, also causing three turnovers and scooping four groundballs. Redshirt senior Michael Faraone was the last multi-point scorer in the outing, grabbing a goal and posting an assist for a pair of tallies.

Freshman goalkeeper Preston Hawkins had a career outing against the Terps, posting 14 saves on a 70.0 percent save percentage. Both marked career bests for the rookie. The close defense unit held Eric Spanos, one of the top five favorites for the Tewaaraton Award in the preseason, to no points in his first action since February 21 this season. Elsewhere in the defensive unit, senior Jon King caused a pair of turnovers and scooped three groundballs, while senior Ryan O’Connor and sophomore Lucca DiBartolomeo each caused a turnover and vacuumed three groundballs. Penn State’s faceoff unit of Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills won 11 of the 19 pulls, holding Maryland’s Henry Dodge to just .500 from the dot. Dodge entered the weekend winning 69.7 percent of his spins, a number that led the nation.

 

FIRST QUARTER – 5-2, Penn State

  • Penn State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of action. Midfielder Chase Robertson opened the scoring on a feed from fellow first-liner Luke Walstrum, who found him wide open on the left wing.
  • John Jude Considine joined the action at the 10:52 mark, scoring his tally unassisted after his initial shot was blocked. He scooped the resulting groundball and fired back at cage to get his score.
  • UMD had a deuce of answers to tie the game up at two with just over four minutes to go in the opening frame, but the flood gates opened for PSU down the stretch.
  • Mark Watters scored his only goal of the day at the 3:30 mark, dodging up the right wing and throwing a bouncer down in the crease to put PSU back in front.
  • Déjà vu struck with just under two minutes to go when Walstrum tallied a second assist on the pass to Robertson, who again scored on a near wide open look on the left wing.
  • Jack Iannantuono wrapped up the quarter with a quick spin dodge from X on the restart, scoring low-to-low with less than nine seconds remaining in the quarter.

 

SECOND QUARTER – 7-3, Penn State

  • The Penn State run continued to open the second when Kyle Lehman found Mac Hobbs, who ate the contact and flicked the ball top shelf to boost the lead to four.
  • Just over a minute later, Michael Faraone found Walstrum on a cross-alley pass, and the Nittany Lion midfielder dunked the ball home on the crease for the team’s seventh goal of the day.
  • A near shutout quarter for the PSU defense was soured when Maryland scored in transition with 1:26 left in the first half.
  • Hawkins closed the first half with one more save to salvage the four-score lead for the Nittany Lions.

 

THIRD QUARTER – 7-4, Penn State 

  • The Nittany Lions were held to a blank in the third, part of a 35:03 long scoring drought for PSU.
  • Maryland had the lone tally in the quarter. Chris Lyons was the scorer at the 10:29 mark, a shot that was unassisted.

 

FOURTH QUARTER – 10-6, Penn State

  • Maryland kept cutting into the lead, pushing PSU to just a 7-6 edge with 7:19 left in the fourth.
  • Penn State used the final seven minutes of action to leave no doubt though, scoring thrice more while holding the Terps to no goals to close out the win.

 

POST GAME NOTES

  • The win marks Penn State’s third top 15 victory this season.
  • Penn State is now 5-43 all time against Maryland.
  • Coach Tambroni owns three of the five wins in the series.

 

UP NEXT

Penn State hits the road next week to take on No. 7 Ohio State for a second-straight ranked Big Ten matchup. The contest, slated for 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 28, will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network for fans at home.

FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS

Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State men’s lacrosse. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion men’s lacrosse team on X and Instagram @PennStateMLAX, in addition to the team’s Facebook page at /PennStateMensLacrosse.