Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Preview
The Big Ten provided viewers and fans with great college lacrosse content all season long.
Here’s a preview of the tournament:
Quarterfinals
No. 5 Ohio State will travel to Ann Arbor to take on No. 4 Michigan on Saturday, April 29.
These two teams played each other on April 21, and Michigan took the 19-14 victory.
Michael Boehm had a program record-setting eight goals versus the Buckeyes, and the Wolverines set a program record, winning 29 out of 37 faceoffs.
For Ohio State, Colby Smith and Matt Caputo both had hat tricks, which were Smith’s third and Caputo’s second.
Later, No. 6 Rutgers will go to College Park to face No. 3 Maryland at 8 p.m.
Earlier in the season, Maryland defeated Rutgers 11-8 in Piscataway.
Seven different Terps scored, including Jack Koras, Daniel Maltz, Eric Spanos and Zach Whittier, who all had two goals each.
Freshman Braden Erksa had a career-high tying four points and three assists, which came on Maryland’s first three goals of the game.
For Rutgers, Jack Aimone was the Scarlet Knights’ only multi-goal scorer with two, but Ross Scott had five points and a career-high four assists.
Semifinals
No. 1 Penn State will wait to play the winner of Ohio State/Michigan at Homewood Field.
The Nittany Lions have a first-round bye.
Penn State clinched a share of the Big Ten title with a win over Rutgers on April 21 at Panzer Stadium. Kevin Winkoff, Mac Costin, Mark Sickler, Jack Traynor and Jake Morin scored five unanswered goals within the first fourteen minutes of the game.
Penn State defeated Ohio State 17-9 at Panzer and Michigan 11-9 at U-M Lacrosse Stadium earlier in the season.
Additionally, the Nittany Lions also brought home the Friendship Cup for the first time since 2019.
An hour and a half later, No. 2 Johns Hopkins will face the winner of Rutgers/Maryland at their home field in Baltimore.
The Blue Jays took a 12-11 victory in a thriller over rival Maryland on April 22 and reclaimed the Rivalry Trophy. Johns Hopkins, too, has a share of the Big Ten title.
Russell Melendez scored the deciding goal off a clearance from Tim Marcelle to give Hopkins the edge.
The Blue Jays defeated Rutgers 16-12 in Piscataway and obviously defeated Maryland in College Park.
Championship
The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 8, at 5:30 p.m. at Homewood Field.
Additionally, the winner of the Big Ten Tournament will earn an automatic entry into the NCAA Championship Tournament.
Adrianna Gallucci is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.
