Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/9/26
From Press Release
Powered by a hat trick and four-point performance from sophomore attackman Hunter Aquino (Academy of the New Church), the eighth-seeded Penn State men’s lacrosse team published a 10-6 win over the 12th-ranked Army in the opening round of the NCAA Championships from Panzer Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Blue & White celebrated an opening round victory for the second season in a row, punching the program’s ticket to the national quarterfinals. Penn State has now booked consecutive bids to the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The Nittany Lions also surged to 10-5 overall on the year, securing PSU’s third double-digit winning campaign in the last four years and sixth 10-plus win season under the leadership of 16-year head coaching veteran Jeff Tambroni.
Aquino, a native of Easton, headlined the Penn Staters on the box score with three goals and an assist to round out a four-point showing. He also had two ground balls and two caused turnovers. The second-year sensation secured his sixth hat trick of the season and saw three goals find the back of the net for the first time since dropping three on Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on April 30.
Redshirt freshman midfielder Andrew Beard and redshirt senior midfielder Michael Faraone both tallied a pair of goals apiece, while junior short-stick defensive midfielder Brendan Leary (Haverford School, 2GB, 1CT), junior attackman Kyle Lehman (Wissahickon) and redshirt senior midfielder Luke Walstrum (Council Rock North) added one goal each. In the assist column, Penn State tallied a quartet of helpers with Beard and Aquino being joined by freshman attackman Jack Iannantuono and junior midfielder Mark Watters.
Defensively, the Blue & White forced 13 Black Knight turnovers and utilized a stellar ride to force four failed clears. Aquino and Beard both booked a pair of caused turnovers to lead all Nittany Lions, while sophomore faceoff specialist Reid Gillis and sophomore long-stick midfielder Lucca DiBartolomeo (Malvern Prep) led the Nittany Lions with four groundballs each. Peri DiBartolomeo (Malvern Prep) and Patrick Keenan (Malvern Prep) each added three groundballs and Will Costin (Haverford School) had a groundball and a caused turnover.
PSU held Army West Point to 29 total shot attempts and just 18 on goal, with the Nittany Lions booking a domineering 55 shots with 30 of those going on frame. At the X, Penn State was sensational, winning 16 of the game’s 20 faceoffs with junior Colby Baldwin finishing the day 9-for-11, while Gillis went 7-for-9 in his opportunities.
Between the pipes, freshman goaltender Preston Hawkins turned in an outstanding showing, yielding just six tallies with 12 saves, three ground balls and a caused turnover. The Powell, Ohio, native Hawkins cracked double digits in the save column for the fifth time this season and first time since registering 10 at Rutgers on April 17. Hawkins fell just two saves shy of his career-high in the category when he booked 14 against Maryland on March 21 of this year.
