No. 17 Penn State men’s lacrosse (4 -1) took down in-state rival No. 10 University of Pennsylvania (1-2) 15-9 on Saturday at Panzer Stadium.

Mac Costin and Kevin Winkoff led the way for Penn State, as they both captured hat tricks in Saturday’s win. Penn State’s offense was on fire, especially in the fourth quarter, as it outscored its opponent 6-0 in the final frame.

With the victory, Penn State secured another Ivy League win after beating Yale last week and will attempt to continue the streak against Cornell later in the season.

How It Happened

Chase Mullins won the opening face-off for Penn State and quickly connected with Kevin Winkoff, who ran the ball straight past Penn goalie Emmet Carroll to gain the lead only 29 seconds into the game.

Winkoff scored his second of the day past Carroll with just over half the time left in the quarter. TJ Malone quickly followed with a strong, far shot that rocketed into the net to make it 3-0.

Penn scored its first goal courtesy of Ben Smith, who found himself open right in front of the goal and had an easy one-on-one with the goalie. With eight seconds left, Hugh Mullane scored his first career goal as he raced against the clock and the crease and found a breakthrough low past Jack Fracyon to end the first quarter 3-1.

The Quakers continued their scoring streak into the third quarter, as Robert Schain scored to tie the game. Less than a minute later, Sam Handley followed that up with a long shot rocket to take a 4-3 lead.

Defender Jack Posey answered for the Nittany Lions, as he barely crossed the restraining line before shooting a rocket from far away that Carroll had no hopes of saving to tie the game once more for his first goal of the season.

Penn fought back to retake its lead, and Cam Rubin found a breakthrough as he beat his defender out to the left and hit it into the top-right corner. James Shipley followed suit and scored his second goal of the season through a low shot between Fracyon’s legs with 3:12 left in the half.

Winkoff secured his hat trick at the end of the quarter for Penn State, as he chose to take on his defender one-on-one and easily ran past, finding the back of the net to end the half with Penn State trailing 6-5.

The Quakers scored the first goal of the second half, as Shipley rolled past the defense and switched hands to bounce the ball into the back of the net with 9:04 left in the third.

Mac Costin hopped on the score sheet for the Nittany Lions after a rocket into the back of the net. Winkoff followed up with his fourth goal, set up by Matt Traynor, to tie the game 7-7 with half to play in the third quarter.

Penn fought to reclaim the lead, and Schain found the back of the net as he shot mid-stride right in front of the goal to put the Quakers back up 8-7.

Costin answered right back for Penn State, though, and tied the game up again when he ran right past his defender and jumped in to put it right past Carroll’s head.

Shipley reached his hat trick for the day as he whipped the ball through with 2:33 to go to give the Quakers the 9-8 lead.

In a very back-and-forth third quarter, Costin earned his hat trick when he tied it up again with 21 seconds left to end the quarter 9-9.

The Nittany Lions struggled to find a breakthrough in the beginning of the fourth quarter, as the Quakers’ defense stopped the goals from coming. Matt Traynor found the lane during a man-up opportunity, as he found himself open in the slot and bounced it into the bottom-right corner to claim a 10-9 lead.

Winkoff followed Matt Traynor’s momentum and fired a low ball from far out that ran right past Carroll to make it an 11-9 in favor of the Nittany Lions with 9:30 left in the game.

Captain Jack Traynor joined the score sheet with a huge goal to make it three in a row for Penn State through a diving shot just outside the crease. He followed up with another goal, taking his defender one-on-one before bouncing the ball in to increase Penn State’s lead to four.

Posey scored his second goal of the day and the season as he ran down the field past his opponents to score in an empty net after finding Carroll out of position. A timeout was called, and Malone immediately scored on the return in what was another empty-net goal with 2:55 to play. Penn State fought to control possession and secured a 15-9 win.

Takeaways

• Kevin Winkoff and Mac Costin had themselves a day. Penn State has a stacked offense, and the leaders can vary game by game, as seen today. In a team usually controlled by the Traynor brothers, Winkoff and Costin came up big to control the tempo and secure the win. No matter who is playing, this offense has plenty of talent to spare.
• Chase Mullins’ early face-off wins provided the Nittany Lions with the quick start they needed. Mullins went 19-for-29 in face-offs, as he helped the Nittany Lions control the tempo and get the early goals to start off on the right foot.
• Coach Jeff Tambroni reached his 100th victory with the Nittany Lions today, one of only two Penn State men’s lacrosse coaches to reach this milestone. His 100th win with the program certainly helps build momentum for the rest of the season.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will travel to play Cornell at noon on Saturday, March 11.