No. 12 Penn State men’s lacrosse (3-1) beat Navy (2-2) 13-3 on Saturday afternoon in Annapolis, Maryland. 

Penn State once again started strong scoring the first four goals, but Navy fought its way back into the game in the second quarter, allowing the Nittany Lions only a three-goal lead at halftime. The second half was a completely different story, though, as Penn State took control of the game scoring eight unanswered goals to end the game.

How It Happened

Penn State controlled the first possession after losing the opening clamp. Shortly after, Will Peden, starting instead of Kyle Lehman, finished an excellent team goal. Just 46 seconds into the game, the Nittany Lions were up 1-0.  

Peden doubled his goal tally just one minute later. Quickly after, the Nittany Lions won back possession from the face off, Peden received the ball, and turned the corner to put Penn State up two.  

The Nittany Lions’ third goal came from a controlled chaos situation. The attack won the ball back off the ride and the Navy goalie, Dan Daly, found himself well out of the net. Matt Traynor took advantage of the misposition, scoring the 12th of his season.  

The Midshipmen finally had goal-scoring opportunities with seven minutes to go in the first quarter, but Jack Fracyon stood tall making back-to-back saves and forcing another shot wide.  

As the first quarter ticked down, Penn State continued to cause Navy trouble on the clear. TJ Malone proved to be the beneficiary of the team’s hard running as he put Penn State up 4-0, causing Navy to call its first timeout of the game. 

The score remained the same for the remainder of the first quarter.  

The second quarter started with a long Navy possession that saw plenty of big saves for Fracyon, but the Midshipmen eventually found a way through two and a half minutes in. Max Hewitt found space around the five-and-five spot where he buried a nice low-to-low goal to make the score 4-1.  

For the minutes preceding the Midshipmen goal, defense for both sides took over. Coverage defense picked up, and both goalies looked extra sharp, holding the score at 4-1 until the four-minute mark when Navy broke the momentary deadlock. An open shot on the wing from Jack Flaherty beat Fracyon five-hole cutting the Nittany Lion lead in half.  

The response for Penn State came two minutes later once again from Peden. A beautiful on-the-run pass from Ethan Long found Peden on the doorstep for his third of the game.  

The final minutes of the first half were spent in the Nittany Lion’s defensive half, with Navy calling two separate timeouts to try and find a goal going into halftime. But Penn State’s defense held up, and the score was still 5-2 heading into the half.  

The second half started fast with the Midshipmen winning the faceoff and scoring 10 seconds in. Navy continued to win at the faceoff and took advantage of it early in the second half.  

The ball was controlled by the Nittany Lions for the entire next five minutes, but they had nothing to show for it. Penn State, frustrated, started taking longer shots that Daly was able to watch into his stick. Eventually, Malone found Traynor cutting the crease for Penn State’s first goal of the second half. Despite most of the possession, the Nittany Lions were still up only 6-3 with nine minutes left in the third quarter. 

Penn State scored again four minutes later following another long possession. Luke Walstrum opened on the wing for a step-down shot. Penn State’s transition play was proving to be much better as the second half continued, limiting Navy to one shot through the first 10 minutes.  

With four minutes left in the quarter, the Navy defense was visibly tired allowing Penn State to win more one-on-one matchups. Jake Morin put the Nittany Lions up five from this. Beating his man from the wing, he faked high and finished low on Daly.  

Heading into the fourth quarter, Penn State led 8-3. 

The second half started fast with the Midshipmen winning the faceoff and scoring 10 seconds in. Navy continued to win at the face off and took advantage of it early in the second half.  

The ball was controlled by the Nittany Lions for the entire next five minutes, but they had nothing to show for it. Penn State, frustrated, started taking longer shots that Daly was able to watch into his stick. Eventually, Malone found Traynor cutting the crease for Penn State’s first goal of the second half. Despite most of the possession, the Nittany Lions were still up only 6-3 with nine minutes left in the third quarter. 

Penn State scored again four minutes later following another long possession. This time it was Luke Walstrum who opened on the wing for a step-down shot. Penn State’s transition play was proving to be much better as the second half continued, limiting Navy to one shot through the first 10 minutes.  

With four minutes left in the quarter, the Navy defense was visibly tired allowing Penn State to win more one-on-one matchups. Jake Morin put the Nittany Lions up five from this. Beating his man from the wing, he faked high and finished low on Daly.  

Heading into the fourth Penn State led 8-3. 

The Nittany Lions continued to build their momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring less than two minutes in off another strong transition play from the midfielders. Now down by six, Navy switched to a 10-man ride to put more pressure on Penn State.  

Peden fought the pressure easily and spun around his man before scoring his fourth of the day. With 11 minutes left in the game, the Nittany Lions led 10-3, its largest lead of the afternoon.  

The best shot of the day came less than a minute later when Traynor stung the top right corner on a jump shot from five-and-five. Penn State had taken control of the game with 10 minutes to go.  

Penn State slowed the game down for the rest of the fourth quarter, scoring two more times without an answer from Navy. 13-3 was the final score. 

Takeaways

• For Penn State, the best defense might be offense. When the Nittany Lions slowed down the game and held the ball on offense for longer, they were a much better team. In the first half, Penn State played a fast and forced offense which allowed Navy to take 23 shots in just 30 minutes, but in a slower more controlled second half the Nittany Lions held the Midshipmen to just 12 shots and one goal. 
• The Nittany Lions need to find a way to maintain their fast starts. Penn State has come out of the gate flying in its last three matches but followed up quick leads by allowing lesser teams to get back in the fight.  
• Without Kyle Lehman, the Penn State offense is completely different. At times, it felt like it was missing a player on the left wing or with the ability to turn the corner on the left side of the goal. Lehman was still recovering from a knock he took in the last game, but he will be a huge boost when he is back.  

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will return home to Panzer Stadium on Saturday, March 2, to take on No. 9 Cornell. The game is set to begin at noon.