Penn State men’s lacrosse (3-1) defeated Navy (3-1) in its fourth game of the young 2025 season.

Matt Traynor scored two goals and tallied two assists as he continued his hot start to the new season, and Jack Aimone notched a hat-trick in the dominating win against the Midshipmen. Penn State outshot Navy 32-13 in the contest.

How It Happened

Penn State recorded its first shot on goal of the game courtesy of a weak Traynor throw from the center of the field, and Navy goalie Dan Daly saved the shot easily to keep the game even.

Liam Matthews opened the scoring for the Nittany Lions after he received a long pass from Kyle Aldridge just to the right of Daly, and with the ball, Matthews pulled a quick move and snapped it passed the goalie at 9:39.

Just 50 seconds later, Navy responded. Jack Nichtern beat Jack Fracyon up high on a long shot from the right side of the field to tie the game at one goal a side.

Scoring continued to be the theme of the game as Penn State got its lead back with just over seven minutes remaining in the first period. Traynor dished the ball to Jack Aimone, where the forward unleashed a whistling shot past Daly and into the back of the net to put Penn State up 2-1.

Once again, Navy responded less than a minute later. Roman LaRocco beat Fracyon on a long shot from the center of the field to tie the game at two.

With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Luke Walstrum and Kyle Lehman connected for a net-front goal to put the Nittany Lions back ahead, but Navy again responded quickly as Evan Conway scored his second goal of the season to tie the game. The final minute plus resulted in no scoring, and the teams began the second period deadlocked.

After some back-and-forth play to begin the period, Conway notched his second goal of the game on a weak shot that snuck past Fracyon to give Navy the lead at 11:33.

With just over nine minutes remaining, Traynor pulled off a series of nice stick-handling moves to get in tight against Daly, and the midfielder capitalized on the opportunity by scoring his first goal of the game to tie the game at four goals a piece.

After Jack Norton was called for pushing, Penn State capitalized on the man advantage. Traynor dished a pass to Aimone, who fired the puck short side to beat Daly and once again put Penn State in the lead at 05:55.

Under one minute later, Walstrum scored his second goal of the game to double Penn State’s lead.

With 4:32 remaining, Ian McGullam took a cross-checking penalty to send the Nittany Lions to a one-minute man advantage. Penn State capitalized on the advantage, as Amione scored his second goal of the contest to extend Penn State’s lead to three.

Navy got a goal back with just over three minutes remaining in the period, as Jack Ponzio beat Fracyon for his fourth goal of the season.

With 1:44 left, Navy scored again. This time, it was Conway to complete the hat trick and get the Midshipmen back within one goal.

Not to be outdone by Conway, Walstrum immediately answered with a goal of his own with 1:11 remaining in the second period to put Penn State ahead by a pair of goals. This was the final offense of the half, as the teams headed to the locker room with Penn State leading.

After it controlled much of the opening minutes of the third period, Penn State extended its lead back to three thanks to a shot by Will Peden, with Walstrum picking up the assist on the goal at 12:24.

Matthews scored his second goal of the contest with under five minutes left in the period and extended the Nittany Lions’ lead to four.

Carter King took a slashing penalty at 03:26, and Penn State headed to the man advantage for one minute. However, nothing came of it, and Navy killed off its penalty.

With six seconds remaining in the third period, Navy cut the Penn State lead to three goals after Jack Flaherty bounced a shot past Fracyon. After the goal, the final seconds ticked away and the final period of regulation began.

Traynor added a goal early in the final period of regulation as Penn State opened its lead back up to four goals. Minutes later, Lehman scored his second of the game to give the Nittany Lions a 12-7 lead.

McGullam took another penalty to send Penn State to the man advantage at 2:28, and Hunter Aquino immediately cashed into further pad Penn State’s lead in what was now a 13-7 game.

Nothing transpired in the final two minutes of play, and Penn State secured the victory.

Takeaways

• Aimone was unstoppable in today’s contest and as a result, the midfielder tallied a hat-trick, bringing his season goal total to five.
• Traynor continued to build on his torrid start to the 2025 campaign with a four-point effort this afternoon. The midfielder tallied two goals and two assists, bringing his season totals through four games to 16 goals and six assists.
• After a mundane start to the contest that saw Navy answer almost immediately after each Penn State goal, the Nittany Lions tightened up their play and ensured the final three periods were not as close as the first. After the Midshipmen took a 4-3 lead early in the second, the Nittany Lions outscored them 7-3.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will have a week off before traveling to Connecticut for an out-of-conference game against Yale. The opening faceoff is set for noon on Saturday, March 1.