Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/14/26
From Press Release
The No. 14 Penn State men’s lacrosse team claimed a statement victory today over No. 3 Princeton, 13-7.
The PSU (1-1) offense put up 18 points with eight different Nittany Lions getting on the score sheet. The Blue & White shared the love on Valentine’s Day with all eight point-recorders scoring a goal.
Sophomore Hunter Aquino (Academy of the New Church) led the scoring with a hat trick but proved to be effective in the ride as well, causing a pair of turnovers and scooping four groundballs. Redshirt seniors Luke Walstrum (Council Rock North) and Michael Faraone each posted three points on two goals and an assist.
Graduate student John Jude Considine did the opposite, scoring on goal and dishing two apples. Freshman Jack Iannantuono finished two goals to round out the multi-goal scorers. Junior Kyle Lehman (Wissahickon) fed one assist and scored for a two-point afternoon. Junior Patrick Carragher and redshirt sophomore Liam Matthews both also scored to close out PSU’s offensive effort.
Freshman netminder Preston Hawkins tallied his first win of the season, making a career-high 11 saves for a 61.1 save percentage. His defensive unit also stepped up, combining for eight caused turnovers, led by close defender Alex Ross’s three. Another big day at the faceoff X for Reid Gills and Colby Baldwin proved to be beneficial, with the duo combining to win 14-of-24 pulls and vacuuming six groundballs.
Roman Dibartolomeo (Malvern Prep) had five groundballs and Ryan O’Connor (Springfield-Delco)had two caused turnovers and two groundballs.
For Princeton (0-1), Cooper Mueller (Radnor) had two caused turnovers and a groundball while Andrew McMeekin (Episcopal Academy) won 7 of 19 faceoffs and Russ Fitzgerald (Taft School-CT/Flourtown native) won 3-of-5 faceoffs. Nate Kabiro led the attack with two goals and an assist.
FIRST QUARTER – 7-1, Penn State
Penn State opened the game with its hottest start of the season, pushing the lead to 2-0 just 1:23 into the game. Princeton’s first tally of the year came less than a minute later, but the Nittany Lions had other plans. Considine posted his second goal of the season on an acrobatic dive across the goal to push PSU back to a two-goal lead and just 54 second later, Lehman put Penn State up three.
The next Penn State offensive possession seemed to end empty handed, but a caused turnover by Aquino in the ride led to a groundball scoop from Iannantuono, who punished the Princeton goalkeeper to push the lead to five with less than seven minutes to go in the first frame.
PSU tacked on two more goals to close the opening quarter, commanding a lead it never looked back from.
SECOND QUARTER – 9-3, Penn State
A quieter second quarter was opened with a quick PU goal. Penn State won the block though, outscoring the home team 2-0 the rest of the way.
THIRD QUARTER – 10-4, Penn State
Aquino put away his second tally to open the second half, scoring at the 12:24 mark on a downhill dodge with the helper from Faraone.
Ross and the PSU defense held strong on the next Tigers’ possession, forcing two shots wide before the senior defenseman caused his third turnover of the afternoon and pushed PSU to the clear.
The Tigers were held scoreless for more than ten minutes of the third frame before finally breaking the seal at 4:22.
The remainder of the quarter ended without instance in part to strong netminding from Hawkins.
FOURTH QUARTER – 13-7, Penn State
Princeton opened the fourth rattling off a trio of goals in the first five minutes of action.
What was looking to be another empty offensive opportunity for PSU saw Carragher scoop a gritty groundball and beat a double team to score his first goal of the season.
Aquino tacked on a diving score on an attack from X, emulating his inner Air Traynor, while Matthews tagged on one more score, his first of the season, for good measure.
POST GAME NOTES
The win marks just the second Penn State win in the all-time series against Princeton, and the first since 1998.
The win over the No. 3-ranked Tigers marks the highest ranked win by PSU since toppling other Ivy opponent Cornell in overtime on March 8, 2025.
The win moves Penn State to a 68-49-1 record all-tine against all Ivy League opponents. PSU has faced off against all Ivy League programs except Brown.
The win marks Penn State’s 30th win against Division I programs in the Garden State.
