Two Historic Programs, a Young Rivalry, and a Spot at Memorial Day Weekend on the Line

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

• Princeton shines on the stat sheet this season, boasting the nation’s second-most points per game (23.94), third-most assists per game (9.06), and the third best scoring offense (14.88).
• The Tiger’s are one of the most accurate shooting teams in the country, ranking second nationally and scoring on 34.3 percent of their strikes.
• If there is a place where the top team in the nation shows any, all be it minimal, weakness, it comes in the rope and ride. The Tigers allow opponents to clear at an 88.6 percent rate, which ranks just 59th among Division I teams. In their own clearing, Princeton advances possession just 87.1 percent of the time. Transition game could be a major factor in the matchup.
• Despite note clearing the ball effectively, the Tigers are otherwise sound at taking care fo the ball, committing just an average of 13.19 turnovers per game.
• Nate Kabiri, one of five finalists for the 2026 Tewaaraton Award, is one of the nation’s top assisters. He ranks eight in the country in assists per game dishing 2.56 per contest. His points per game number of 4.75 ranks eighth in the country.
• A two-headed beast on the offense, Chad Pulumbo tag teams the attack with Kabiri. The pair combined for 15 points in the first round game for the Tigers.
• Faceoff man Andrew Meekan wins draws at a 57.9 percent rank, but scoops a majority of his own pulls, grabbing 7.81 groundballs per game.
• Netminder Ryan Croddick allows an average of 9.54 goals per game, the 14th fewest goals allowed in the country. His save percentage of 57.8 is sixth best nationally.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON

• No. 14 Penn State men’s lacrosse returned to the win column with a statement victory over No. 3 Princeton, 13-7. The Nittany Lion’s first road contest of the season, coming on Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium in Princeton, N.J., had Penn State leading the whole way, with the only level score occurring over the first 43 seconds of the game.
• The PSU offense put up 18 points with eight different Nittany Lions getting on the score sheet. The Blue & White shared the love on Valentine’s Day with all eight point-recorders scoring a goal. Sophomore Hunter Aquino led the scoring with a hat trick but proved to be effective in the ride as well, causing a pair of turnovers and scooping four groundballs. Redshirt seniors Luke Walstrum and Michael Faraone each posted three points on two goals and an assist. Graduate student John Jude Considine did the opposite, scoring on goal and dishing two apples. Freshman Jack Iannantuono finished two goals to round out the multi-goal scorers. Junior Kyle Lehman fed one assist and scored for a two-point afternoon. Junior Patrick Carragher and redshirt sophomore Liam Matthews both also scored to close out PSU’s offensive effort.
• Freshman netminder Preston Hawkins tallied his first win of the season, making a career-high 11 saves for a 61.1 save percentage. His defensive unit also stepped up, combining for eight caused turnovers, led by close defender Alex Ross’s three. Another big day at the faceoff X for Reid Gills and Colby Baldwin proved to be beneficial, with the duo combining to win 14-of-24 pulls and vacuuming six groundballs.

FRESHMAN PHENOM

• Rookie Jack Iannantuono was acknoleged by Inside Lacrosse earlier this season on the outlets 2026 Freshman Impact Rankings. The first year was named the fifth-most impactful player so far this season before being elevated to the top three in the late season addition.
• IL’s initial 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.”
• IL’s late season review of Iannantuono: “Despite a pointless game last time out vs. Michigan in which the Nittany Lions as a whole really struggled, Iannantuono has remained one of the foremost productive rookies in the nation in 2026. He has 15 goals and 14 assists, including a balanced two goals, two assists vs. the best defense in the nation in Ohio State, as Penn State’s most consistent offensive threat.”
• Freshman goalkeeper Preston Hawkins joined the list on the late season rendition, coming in at No. 20 in the rankings.
• IL on Hawkins: “Hawkins has been one of the more high-profile rookie contributors this season just by the nature of the Nittany Lions’ roller coaster of a season so far. He’s increased his save percentage by a few percentage points, saving 50%, including games like 63% vs. Ohio State and 70% vs. Maryland.”

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 21 on the year so far. His per game number for CTOs (1.40) is the fifth best in the Big Ten. Consistently tasked with tackling an opponent’s top attacker, he has helped the PSU defense to rank seventh in the country this season in scoring defense. His unit allows just 8.73 goals per game this season. Ross is the perfect example of defensive discipline, as he ranks in the 99th percentile in caused turnovers to penalties ratio. He has been flagged just once in 2026.

ALL-AMERICAN BOYS

• Penn State men’s lacrosse names three to tin 2026 Inside Lacrosse Media All-American lists, the organization announced Saturday. Senior defenseman Alex Ross earned his spot on the first team, with senior short-stick defensive midfielder Jon King garnering second team honors and sophomore faceoff Reid Gills being named an honorable mention.
• Ross leads the team in caused turnovers, with 21 forced so far this season. He has 31 groundballs scooped this season, totaling over 100 in his career. His caused turnover per game number of 1.43 ranks fifth in the conference. King boasts the second-most caused turnovers nationally by a SSDM. He has scooped the most groundballs on any non-faceoff athlete for the Nittany Lions, vacuuming 36 this season. Gills is the eighth-ranked faceoff athlete in the country, winning 63.2 percent of the battles he takes. He has won 120 faceoffs in 2026.

 

LAST TIME OUT

• The eighth-seeded Penn State men’s lacrosse team published a 10-6 win over the 12th-ranked Army West Point Black Knights in the opening round of the 2026 NCAA DI Men’s Lacrosse Championship from Panzer Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
• The Blue & White celebrated an opening round victory for the second season in a row, punching the program’s ticket to the national quarterfinals for the second year in a row. Penn State has now booked consecutive bids to the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The Nittany Lions also surged to 10-5 overall on the year, securing PSU’s third double-digit winning campaign in the last four years and sixth 10-plus win season under the leadership of 16-year head coaching veteran Jeff Tambroni.
• Aquino, a native of Easton, Pennsylvania, headlined the Penn Staters on the box score with three goals and an assist to round out a four-point showing. The second-year sensation secured his sixth hat trick of the season and saw three goals find the back of the net for the first time since dropping three on Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on April 30. Redshirt freshman midfielder Andrew Beard and redshirt senior midfielder Michael Faraone both tallied a pair of goals apiece, while junior short-stick defensive midfielder Brendan Leary, junior attackman Kyle Lehman and redshirt senior midfielder Luke Walstrum added one goal each. In the assist column, Penn State tallied a quartet of helpers with Beard and Aquino being joined by freshman attackman Jack Iannantuono and junior midfielder Mark Watters.
• Defensively, the Blue & White forced 13 Black Knight turnovers and utilized a stellar ride to force four failed clears. Aquino and Beard both booked a pair of caused turnovers to lead all Nittany Lions, while sophomore faceoff specialist Reid Gills and sophomore long-stick midfielder Lucca DiBartolomeo led the Nittany Lions with four groundballs each. PSU held Army West Point to 29 total shot attempts and just 18 on goal, with the Nittany Lions booking a domineering 55 shots with 30 of those going on frame. At the X, Penn State was sensational, winning 16 of the game’s 20 faceoffs with junior Colby Baldwin finishing the day 9-for-11, while Gills went 7-for-9 in his opportunities.
• Between the pipes, freshman goaltender Preston Hawkins turned in an outstanding showing, yielding just six tallies with 12 saves, three ground balls and a caused turnover. The Powell, Ohio, native Hawkins cracked double digits in the save column for the fifth time this season and first time since registering 10 at Rutgers on April 17. Hawkins fell just two saves shy of his career-high in the category when he booked 14 against Maryland on March 21 of this year.

A WIN WOULD...

• Move Penn State to a 11-5 record this season.
• Mark PSU’s second consecutive year advancing to the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Penn State has never advanced to the semifinals in consecutive seasons,a nd has only appeared in the final four three other seasons (2019, 2023, 2025)
• Help Penn State’s close the gap in the all-time records, moving series to 4-3 all-time in favor of the Tigers.
• Mark PSU’s third win in the series since the series began in 1991. PSU took a victory over Princeton earlier this season when the Blue & White earned a 13-7 win over the Tigers.
• Move Penn State to a 69-49-1 record all-tine against all Ivy League opponents. PSU has faced off against all Ivy League programs except Brown.
• Mark Penn State’s 33rd win against Division I programs in the Garden State.
• Mark Coach Tambroni’s 10th win against Princeton. Head coach Jeff Tambroni is 9-5 all time against the Tigers, with only one contest of his career occuring at PSU. Tambroni’s only loss against Princeton while at Penn State came in the 2025 season when the Tigers took an 11-10 win in overtime in Holuba Hall.

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 249 victories to date. Only John Danowski at Duke (494), Dan Sheehan at Le Moyne (382), Kevin Corrigan at Notre Dame (381), Chris Ryan at Mount St. Mary’s (276), and Joe Breschi at North Carolina (274) 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 65.4 winning percentage ranks 12th best among active DI coaches.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Nittany Lion defense ranks second best among teams still in the tournament. The team averages just 8.73 goals allowed per game. The mark ranks second in the Big Ten and seventh overall in the country.
• The PSU scoring margin is equally as impressive, as Penn State has outscored oppoenent by an average on 3.93 goals per game. That marks is best in the Big Ten and 10th best nationally.
• Penn State is the ninth most accurate shooting team int he country, scoring on 32.9 percent of its shots.
• In the words of sophomore attackman Hunter Aquino, “We don’t have one guy, we have ten.” Penn State has zero players ranked in the top ten in any offensive or defensive categories per the NCAA statistical database. Still, the Nittany Lion offense ranks top-20 in the country. PSU has used this balanced attack and defenive approach to confuse opposing team all season. It’s impossible to know who to put a pole on if any guy can go off on any given day.
• Specialist categories are a different thing though, as Reid Gills ranks sixth nationally in face off win percentage, scooping 63.2 percent of his pulls. Freshman netminder Preston Hawkins has settled into his own this season, also ranking eighth in a national statisitcal category. The rookie allows just 8.53 goals per game, a mark that also ranks second in the Big Ten.

  TWO-HEADED BEAST

• The Nittany Lion faceoff core, comprised of Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills, is a top five unit in the country. Both individually rank top-25 in their winning percentage, combinig for a 60.2 percent win rate.
• The duo has accomplished an incredibly rare feat. The pair is one of two sets in the country to both eclipse 100 faceoff wins in a single season. Only Navy accomplished the same in 2026.
• To date, Baldwin has secured 105 faceoffs while Gills has won 120 pulls.

IT RUNS DEEP

• A testament to Penn State’s offensive depth, PSU is one of three schools in the nation to have a second midfield unit that has combined for at least 30 goals this season. The Nittany Lion core of Michael Faraone, John Jude Considine, and Patrick Carragher combine for 37 goals so far this season (Faraone - 20, Considine - 10, Carragher - 7).
• The only other two schools in the country to do so are Princeton, whose core has combined for 37 points, and North Carolina, whose core has posted 35.