UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 17 Penn State Nittany Lions (7-0) head out west to face the San Diego State Aztecs (1-4) slated for March 8th at 3 p.m. ET at Aztec Field in San Diego. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
The 7-0 start by the Nittany Lions this season matches the best start to a women’s lacrosse season since 2017 when Penn State also started out 7-0. The Blue and White only need two more wins to hit 600 in program history and are set to join Maryland and Loyola University Maryland as the only other women’s college lacrosse programs to secure 600 or more total wins. Head Coach Kayla Treanor’s undefeated start to the season is the best by any Penn State women’s lacrosse first year head coach since the 1986 season when Head Coach Susan Delaney-Scheetz started out 10-0 and is the second-best start of her head coaching career.
As of March 4th, the Penn State offense ranks inside the top-20 nationally in assists per game (eighth), points per game (seventh), scoring offense (13th) and shot percentage (ninth). The Nittany Lions are also ranked top-four offensively in the Big Ten in assists per game (fourth), free position percentage (first), points per game (second), scoring offense (second) and shot percentage (first).
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State put on an offensive showcase in a dominate win over Colgate, 20-8. Delaney Radin led the offensive effort with an astounding nine points and tied the program record with eight assists, a record originally set by Marsha Florio against Princeton in 1985. Her eight assists tied the NCAA single-game-high this season with Allison Reilly of Army West Point and now has the two-highest single-game assist totals in the Big Ten this season alongside her Richmond game. Her nine points tied Madison Taylor and Emma Bradbury for the highest single-game points total in the Big Ten this season and tied for the 11th-highest single-game total in the NCAA. Kelly MacKinney followed up with an eight-point effort of her own with four goals, both the highest of her career, and four assists. Her effort was tied for the fourth-highest point total of the season by any Big Ten player alongside Madison Taylor, Jenna Soto and Ava Angello. Payton Wainman and Anna Salerno both netted four goals and reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, Rocquette Allen, had a pair of goals.
Defensively, Sydney Manning had another stellar day in the cage, securing her fourth effort of the season with a save rate north of 50% and the third consecutive such outing. Susannah O’Connell picked up a career-high three ground balls while causing a turnover alongside Maggie Driver who secured a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover.
BACK-TO-BACK
The Big Ten Conference office announced on the afternoon of March 3rd that Allen earned her second consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor.
Allen is the first back-to-back recipient of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award since Northwestern’s Madison Smith during the 2024 season. This is the first time that Penn State has been honored in consecutive weeks since April of 2024 when MacKinney was selected as Big Ten Freshman of the Week after Sydney Manning secured the award and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week prior. Allen was the first Penn State women’s lacrosse player this season to earn a Big Ten Weekly Award and the first freshman to earn the award since Brooke Long was selected in April of last year
Her hat trick proved to be the difference to keep the Nittany Lions undefeated in Penn State’s second ranked victory of the year over No. 25 Cornell, 11-9. At the time, freshman’s three goal effort was only the second time this year that the top-five scoring defense of the Big Red have given up three goals to a single player. Allen also dished out an assist, caused a turnover that led to the first Penn State goal of the day and picked up a ground ball in the win over Cornell.
Allen is tied for the team-high with 20 goals so far this year, the most by any Power Conference freshman in the country, and is third on the Blue and White with 27 points, only behind Alexa Spallina for the second most by any Power Conference freshman.
THE ASSIST QUEENS
Radin and MacKinney have been on a tear to start the pair’s junior campaign. Through seven games, the duo has combined for 43 assists and 65 points, the most assists and points by any pairing in the country, along with 22 goals.
In her electric start to the 2026 season, Radin has already set new career-highs for most goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, free position shots and free position goals that she’s had in a single-season. Her 25 assists on the year have more than doubled her previous combined total in 18 less games and has nearly doubled her combined point total with 34 points this season. As of March 4th, the New Yorker has the most assists in the Big Ten, the most by any Power Conference player and the third most in Division I. Radin is just behind Taylor and Angello for the third most points by any Big Ten player, tied for ninth-most points in the NCAA.
MacKinney has followed closely behind the Florida transfer and had a more balanced approach to her success this season with 42% of her 31 points, the second-most by any Nittany Lion, coming from goals and is just two scores away from setting a new single-season high for herself. Even though she’s been able to cash in more than in years past, MacKinney still remains a passing threat and sees the field extremely well. Her 18 assists are top-10 nationally, tied for the ninth-most nationally, and the third-most in the Big Ten, behind Radin and Lily Dixon of Rutgers.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Aztecs host the Nittany Lions after a loss to the University of Southern California, 3-13, and enter the matchup with a 1-4 record. Keira Doyle-Odenbach leads all San Diego State goal scorers with 11 goals on the season with three assists while Mia Maechtel has tallied the only other double-figure goals scored for the Aztecs along with five assists. Tate Stokesberry is the third San Diego State player with at least 10 points on the season thanks to four goals and six assists. Caitlin Boughton leads the Aztecs’ defense with 11 ground balls followed closely behind Lilah Turley and Jordan Dobin with nine and eight, respectively. Maya Tillman has a team-high nine caused turnovers and Sophia Miller is behind her with seven. Boughton is the primary goalie for the Aztecs and is headed into the weekend with a save rate of 41.1% and giving up 11.79 goals on average on 114 shots faced. San Diego State is helmed by Head Coach Kylee White alongside associate head coach Brandi Padilla and assistant coaches Rob Bray and Cate Goodman.
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State women's lacrosse. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team on Facebook at /pennstatewomenslacrosse as well as Twitter and Instagram @PennStateWLAX.