B1G Time Semifinal Nears For No. 15 Men's Lacrosse

SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS

• Ranked No. 1 in the country in the preseason USILA poll, Maryland now sits at No. 10.
• Graduate student attacker Leo Johnson has 46 points on the season, with 27 goals and 19 assists. Johnson ranks first in the Big Ten in points per game with 3.83 per contest, as well as being ranked second in assists per game and fourth in goals per game in the conference, respectively.
• Graduate student attacker Eric Spanos averages 2.44 goals per game, ranking first in the Big Ten.
• Senior FOGO Henry Dodge ranks first in the nation in face-off win percentage at 69.6%, contributing to the Terrapins overall percentage of 62.5%, which ranks second in the nation.
• Maryland is 3-2 in the Big Ten, with wins coming against Michigan, Ohio State, and Rutgers.

LAST TIME VS. MARYLAND

• 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.

FRESHMAN PHENOM

• Rookie Jack Iannantuono was acknoleged by Inside Lacrosse this week on the outlets 2026 Freshman Impact Rankings. The first year was named the fifth-most impactful player so far this season.

IL’s review of Iannantuono: “A steady performer, Iannantuono has been a consistent contributor for a Penn State offense that likes to spread the wealth. His big games came with a two-goal, four-assist display vs. Yale and a three-goal, one-assist performance in the dominant win vs. Cornell. He’s up to 11 goals and 11 assists through seven starts. A St. Paul’s (Md.) alum, Iannantuono won a starting job to play alongside Kyle Lehman and Hunter Aquino. He has made sure there has been no drop off since Aquino got injured, too.”

DRAFT NIGHT

• Penn State men’s lacrosse continued its streak of athletes selected in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) Draft with Alex Ross joining the list of PSU draftees on Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions have now had a selection in all of the last three drafts, including back-to-back first round picks.
• Senior defenseman Alex Ross, selected as the eighth overall pick (round one, pick eight), is headed to New York at the end of the 2026 college lacrosse season. Ross will join former Nittany Lions Matt Traynor and Mac O’Keefe as the only PSU student-athletes to be selected in the first round. The close defender will join Traynor, a 2025 PLL All-Star, on the Atlas. Ross was the first pole to be selected in the 2026 draft.
• The Davidsonville, Maryland native is the Nittany Lions’ leader in caused turnovers this season, forcing 18 on the year so far. His per game number for CTOs (1.64) is the third best in the Big Ten and ranks top thirty nationally. Consistently tasked with tackling an opponent’s top attacker, he has helped the PSU defense to rank 13th in the country this season in scoring defense. His unit allows just 9.36 goals per game this season. Ross is the perfect example of defensive discipline, as he ranks in the 100th percentile in caused turnovers to penalties ratio. He has yet to be flagged in 2026.

MIDSEASON CHECK-IN

• Penn State men’s lacrosse has earned a trio of midseason All-American honors, as announced by Inside Lacrosse on Friday morning. Senior defenseman Alex Ross garnered first team honors, senior short-stick Jon King was named to the third team, and sophomore faceoff Reid Gills was named an honorable mention. Notably, the Nittany Lion offense, which ranks number one in the Big Ten and top 15 nationally in goals per game and points per game, earned zero recognitions on the midseason list.
• Ross enters this coming weekend leading the conference and ranking 28th nationally in caused turnovers per game, averaging 1.70. Earlier this season, he eclipsed 100 groundballs in his career. While the senior’s statistical game doesn’t initially jump off the page, a greater analytical dive quickly shows how dominant of a defender Ross is. His defensive expected goals added, a metric that calculates how defensive plays translate to offensive goals, ranks in the 99th percentile. His caused turnovers per penalty ranks in the 100th percentile, as he has yet to find himself in the box this season. His groundball win rate of six percent ranks in the 96th percentile. All of these metrics culminate into one of the nation’s top defenders.
• King, who was recently named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following the win over Maryland, currently is tied for second among short-stick defensive midfielders in caused turnovers, with 12 so far this season. Similar to Ross, his defensive expected goals added number sits ranks in the 98th percentile, and his groundball win rate of 5.2 is good for the 95th percentile among active lacrosse players.
• Gills is one of the nation’s top faceoff athletes. He ranks ninth in the nation and second in the Big Ten in faceoff win percentage, clocking in at 61.7 percent. He also ranks second in the conference in groundballs per game, scooping an average of 4.9 per outing.

LAST TIME OUT

• No. 16 Penn State men’s lacrosse won the Friendship Cup for the fifth straight season, downing No. 19 Rutgers, 16-8, in a critical regular season finale. The win, which boosted Penn State to a 7-5 (3-2 B1G) record, solidified the Nittany Lions as the two-seed in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament, earning the Blue & White a first-round bye and fast track the tournament semifinals at SHI Stadium on Thursday, April 30. Rutgers fell to 8-6 (1-4 B1G) with the loss.
• Penn State’s attack outscored Rutgers by a combined 10-2 margin in the second and fourth quarters alone, led primarily by sophomore Hunter Aquino, who put up four goals and an assist for five points. Redshirt freshman Andrew Beard had a career day with five points, scoring two goals on three shots a feeding three helpers. Following closely was junior Kyle Lehman and redshirt sophomore Liam Matthews, who each secured a hat trick. Freshman Jack Iannnatuono was back on the scoresheet after being blanked against Michigan. The first year scored a goal and dished two assists for three points. Redshirt sophomore Patrick Carragher and true sophomore Chase Robertson rounded out the multi-point Penn Staters, dropping a score and an apple apiece.
• The Nittany Lions defense was anchored by freshman goalkeeper Preston Hawkins, who made 10 saves in 56 minutes of action for a 62.5 save percentage.
• His defense forced 16 Rutgers turnovers, including six by direct cause. Senior Alex Ross, who was drafted eighth overall earlier this week by the New York Atlas, accounted for two of the causes and scooped a pair of groundballs.
• Reid Gills led the faceoff unit, winning 10 of his 16 pulls from the dot, scooping seven groundballs, and scoring a goal, the first of his career.

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.

A WIN WOULD...

• Move Penn State to a 8-5 record this season.
• Advance PSU to the Big Ten Championship for the first time since the 2024 season.
• Be the 29th Nittany Lion win over the Scarlett Knights. Penn State is 28-47 all time against Rutgers in a series that dates back to the 1946 season.
• Be the sixth Nittany Lion win over the Terrapins. Penn State is 5-43 all time against Maryland in a series that dates back to the 1916 season. PSU beat the Terrapins earlier this season, 10-6, in the first-ever win over the Terps at Panzer Stadium.
• Mark Coach Tambroni’s fourth win against UMD. Head coach Jeff Tambroni is 3-11 against the Terrapins since arriving at PSU.

A LEADER AMONG MEN

• Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni is one of the most successful active coaches in all of collegiate lacrosse, but especially at the Division I level.
• Coach Tambroni is the sixth-most winningest coach among active Division I head coaches, totaling 246 victories to date. Only John Danowski at Duke (493), Dan Sheehan at Le Moyne (382), Kevin Corrigan at Notre Dame (380), Chris Ryan at Mount St. Mary’s (276), and Joe Breschi at North Carolina (272) have more.
• Of the above list, only Breschi and Tambroni have earned all of their career victories at the Division I level.
• Not only is Coach Tambroni’s win total impressive, but his 65.1 winning percentage ranks 14th best among active DI coaches.