UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – 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 today’s win powered by two seven-goal quarters from Penn State. The Nittany Lions improve to 4-2 with the victory, while Cornell drops 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.
FIRST QUARTER – 7-0, Penn State
- Penn State dominated from the opening whistle, scoring a trio of unassisted goals in the first 7:03 of action.
- PSU buried four more before the end of the quarter. Kyle Lehman finished his first quarter hat trick at 2:38.
- The Blue & White defense held the Big Red to a blank on the score sheet, allowing just two shots in the first 15 minutes of action.
SECOND QUARTER – 10-2, Penn State
- The Nittany Lions continued the momentum in the second quarter, scoring an eighth unanswered less than three minutes into the action.
- Cornell finally found the net with 10:22 to go in the first half, but a pair of PSU goals built the lead out to nine.
- The Big Red closed the half with its second goal of the day with 4:50 mark, but the Nittany Lions carried the eight-goal margin into the break
THIRD QUARTER – 17-4, Penn State
- Cornell looked to have righted the ship, scoring just 51 seconds into the third quarter.
- The Nittany Lions answered less than two minutes later to fight out to an 11-3 edge, but Cornell responded at the 9:33 mark to keep the PSU lead at seven.
- Penn State then rattled off six unanswered goals to bully out to a 17-4 lead before the end of the quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER – 19-7, Penn State
- Iannantuono posted his ninth goal of the season to open the final frame, pushing Penn State to its largest lead of the afternoon at 14.
- Cornell grabbed three goals to PSU’s one in the final nine minutes of action, as Penn State went on to win 19-7 on home turf.
POST GAME NOTES
- Lehman eclipsed the 50-goal mark on his career. He currently sits at 55 over his career.
- The win over the No. 7-ranked Big Red marks the second top ten win for Penn State this season.
- The win marks Penn State’s 26th win all-time against Cornell.
- Lehman’s six goals and seven points mark the most by a Nittany Lion since Matt Traynor's six goals, seven points against Notre Dame in last season’s NCAA quarterfinal game.
UP NEXT
Penn State is on the road next week for a neutral site battle against North Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday, March 14. Faceoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on the Corrigan Sports Network.
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.