Penn State men’s lacrosse (1-0) defeated Lafayette (0-1) 21-11 in the team’s season opener Saturday at Holuba Hall.

Matt Traynor led the charge with five goals as Penn State opened its season with a dominant victory. After ending last season with a 3-11 record, it was a much needed display to right the ship.

How It Happened

The Nittany Lions came out strong. Matt Traynor opened the scoring after a mere 13 seconds to put Penn State up 1-0. Just over a minute later, with 13:46 to play, recent transfer Kevin Winkoff followed up with a strong shot past Lafayette goalie Joe Doherty to increase the lead to 2-0.

Penn State continued to dominate and held possession in Lafayette’s half before Traynor found another breakthrough with 10:28 to play. Mac Costin followed up with a solo goal with 9:50 left in the first quarter.

Lafayette finally spent some time on offense, before turning play back to Penn State following a shot clock violation. The Nittany Lions wasted no time with the ball, as Mark Sickler put them up 5-0 with just over half to play in the quarter.

The Leopards recorded their first shot on goal with about seven minutes left in the first quarter, and started to find their feet. Two quick goals past Jack Fracyon in the 12th minute by John Mathes and Connor Freeman put Lafayette on the board, 5-2. Penn State followed with a goal of its own to close the quarter 6-2.

Penn State kept its energy up and opened scoring early in the second quarter. Matt Traynor reached a hat trick with his goal at 14:18 to put Penn State up 7-2. Penn State increased its lead just six seconds later to make it 8-2.

The Leopard’s scored their first goal of the quarter from Peter Lehman with 10:54 to play, cutting the lead to 8-3.

With 9:15 to go, Chris Jordan joined the score sheet for Penn State, putting it up 9-3. Penn State held the game as Jack Traynor connected with brother Matt Traynor, who got his fourth goal of the game and increased the score to 10-3 with 7:56 to go. Lafeyette followed up with three goals to close the lead to 10-6. Two goals from Jack Traynor and Michael Faraone closed out the half and gave the Nittany Lions a 12-6 lead.

As it did in the first two quarters, Penn State opened the third quarter with another early goal by Jordan. Jack Irish got one past Fracyon for Lafayette before Penn State got three goals, including first for captain TJ Malone, to go up 16-7. Charlie Cunnife scored unassisted for the Leopards to close the quarter 16-8.

The Nittany Lions opened up the fourth quarter with a goal by Jordan before freshman Ryan O’Connor also scooped up a ground ball to get past Doherty and put Penn State up 18-8.

The Penn State goals kept coming as Malone scored off a no-look, over-the-shoulder shot, quickly followed by Jordan to make it 20-8. Penn State replaced Fracyon in goal with Aleri Fyock in goal. Shortly after, Aidan Kelly put one past Fyock for the Leopards.

Halfway through the quarter, Jeb Brenfleck scored his first for Penn State before Lafayette answered with two goals of its own to cut the deficit to 21-11. Penn State kept control for the rest of the quarter to secure its win.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s offense came out strong. After a disappointing last season, the Nittany Lions might back with a vengeance.
• The Traynor brothers will likely be a threat this season, galvanizing the team to similar victories. In Saturday’s contest, both Jack and Matt combined for five goals and three assists.
• TJ Malone had a great return after injury with a signature no look goal, one of many to come this season, but sophomore defenseman Kevin Parnham’s fate was not as optimistic. Parnham prematurely exited the game with an injury of his own, which could prove a blow for the Nittany Lion defense.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will see their first road action when they travel to Villanova on Sunday, February 12. The game will begin at noon.