Penn State men’s lacrosse (3-1) defeated No. 5 Yale (1-1) 13-11 Saturday in New Haven.

TJ Malone and Matt Traynor led the charge as Penn State’s defense stepped up against the Bulldogs en route to a victory over a ranked opponent.

How It Happened

Yale won the opening faceoff but soon turned play over to Penn State. Jack Traynor opened the scoring in under two minutes to give Penn State an early lead.

Yale won the faceoff and moved down the field, as Carson Kuhl snuck the ball past Jack Fracyon for his first goal of the season, tying the game 1-1.

The Nittany Lions found themselves back on offense, and TJ Malone scooped up a ground ball off the rebound and wasted no time in shooting it past goalie Jared Paquette. Matt Traynor carried the ball past the entire Bulldogs’ defense for a solo goal to make it 3-1.

Yale received two penalties to give Penn State an extra-man opportunity, which Jed Brenfleck took advantage of to find the back of the net twice in one minute to make it 5-1.

Matt Traynor kept the goals coming and scored two back-to-back with just under half left in the first. After a few minutes of silence, he again scored with a running past, over-the-shoulder goal with 23 seconds left to close the quarter with Penn State in the lead 8-1.

Yale came back alive in the second quarter. It won the first faceoff, and Chris Lyons scored off a long shot. Nicholas Ramsey won the next faceoff for Yale and took it straight down the field for a strong, unassisted goal.

The goals kept coming for Yale, as it scored four in a row following two goals from Thomas Bragg and Leo Johnson to make it 8-5.

Jack Traynor broke the streak for Yale, as he managed to get the ball past Paquette while falling down with 6:48 left in the half to make it 9-5.

Bragg got another goal for the Bulldogs, as he converted from a long shot just a yard inside the restraining line. Chris Jordan responded for the Nittany Lions as he whipped in a long shot to end the first half 10-6.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the second half following a goal by Lyons, assisted by Johnson with 13:22 left. Possession was traded and neither team could find a breakthrough for the majority of the quarter.

Yale found another breakthrough with 2:16 left and it cut its deficit to two following a goal from Lyons. Penn State came back, and Malone extended its lead to three again following a strong shot in front of goal to end the quarter 11-8.

Malone got the first goal of the fourth quarter for the Nittany Lions to extend the lead again to four.

The Nittany Lions received a man-up opportunity and wasted no time in using it. Malone connected with Matt Traynor, who quickly shot a rocket into the back of the net with 9:32 left to make it a 13-8 game.

The Bulldogs went on a scoring run, scoring three in a row and controlling the tempo on attack.

Yale scored with just over a minute left after a hectic fight for the ball but the goal was called off, as Yale called a timeout right before it hit the back of the net. Fracyon posted a huge save in the net with 38 seconds left to secure the narrow win for Penn State.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s zone defense stifled Yale today in the upset. Yale scored 20 in its last game and was held to only 11 today, as it couldn’t find many holes in the strong defense. The Nittany Lions have improved on faceoffs, and its newfound control has helped the defense grow stronger each game.
• The Traynor brothers are leading this team. They combined for seven goals today and were major players in moving the ball around on the attack. Penn State would be struggling for a rhythm without them, and their impact is growing each game.

What’s Next

Penn State will host the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 4. The game will start at 3 p.m.