Men’s Lacrosse Preview vs. Villanova

Story posted February 11, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Micheal Bolger

The Penn State Nittany Lions are headed to Villanova after a 21-11 victory against the Lafayette Leopards in Holuba Hall on Saturday. 

The 10-point victory was the largest margin of victory that the Nittany Lions had since their 22-7 victory over Furman in March of 2020. The last time Penn State scored 20 or more goals in a game was in 2022 against the Leopards. 

In their season debut, the blue and white won 22 of 35 face-offs against Lafayette. Hudson Bohn won 20 of those 22 face-offs for the Nittany Lions, including one that he took back for a goal to extend their lead to 8-2 early in the second quarter.

Penn State led at half 12-6, with four of the goals coming from Matt Traynor. Traynor would end the day with a career-high five goals against the Leopards.

Graduate students Chris Jordan and TJ Malone paired for four goals in the fourth quarter to finish off the Leopards. Jordan would finish the day with four goals, the second-highest on the team.

Penn State’s goalkeeper Jack Fracyon ended the day with 18 saves and allowed eight goals on 35 shots faced throughout his 51 minutes of play. Aleric Fyock subbed halfway through the fourth quarter allowing three goals.

Head coach Jeff Tambroni won his 205th career game and his 97th game in his 13th year at Penn State. The 2019 Big Ten Coach of the Year 

This weekend will be the 17th time that the Nittany Lions and the Wildcats face off against each other since 2005. Penn State leads the all-time series 9-7, winning two of the last three games.

Sunday will be the eighth time that Penn State has traveled to face Villanova, the Nittany Lions have won five of the eight meetings.

Penn State will have its hands filled against the Wildcats who went 9-6 last season, making it to the second round of the Big East Tournament. Villanova's own Matt Campbell and Chet Comizio were both named as the Preseason Media All-Americans and will be a problem for the Nittany Lions all day long.

Campbell, the midfielder for the Wildcats, made the All-Big East First Team and the USILA All-American Second Team in 2022. The graduate student started in 15 games last season, ending the year with 45 goals and 22 assists.

Comizio was not on any of the starting lineups for Villanova in their 15 games throughout the 2022 season but is expected to see more playing time this year.

Penn State will travel to Villanova to take on the Wildcats in Villanova’s season debut on Sunday at noon. The Nittany Lions will look to pick up their first road win since 2021 to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Micheal Bolger is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mpb6233@psu.edu.