PISCATAWAY, N.J.- The No. 10 Penn State men's lacrosse team closed the 2024 regular season on a high note with a 15-9 victory over Rutgers on Friday night. With the win, Penn State clinches their 14th Friendship Cup in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State jumped out to a 1-0 lead courtesy of a goal by TJ Malone with 14:24 remaining in the first quarter.
- Rutgers soon countered with a goal off the stick of Dante Kulas with 13:30 remaining to even the score at 1-1.
- Luke Walstrum would then strike with 12:16 left in the quarter to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead.
- Rutgers then scored two unanswered goals with 10:00 and 6:23 remaining in the quarter to take a 3-2 lead.
- After both sides would score to make the score 4-3 Rutgers, Penn State scored three unanswered goals from Matt Traynor, TJ Malone, and Kyle Aldridge to take a 6-4 lead after one.
- The Nittany Lions were able to hold Rutgers to just one goal in the second quarter before Mac Costin and Matt Traynor each tallied goals to take an 8-5 lead at the half.
- Penn State opened the third quarter with two unanswered goals from Kyle Lehman and TJ Malone to give the Nittany Lions a commanding 10-5 lead with 11:05 left in the third quarter.
- Rutgers and Penn State closed out the quarter with a goal apiece to send the game into the final quarter with Penn State ahead 11-6.
- The Nittany Lions fired two goals from Luke Mercer and Jake Morin to start the fourth quarter to give the Nittany Lions a 13-6 lead with 11:33 left in the quarter.
- Rutgers soon fired back with a pair of their own to narrow the Penn State lead to 13-8 with 9:38 remaining in the quarter.
- Matt Traynor then scored two back-to-back goals to give the Nittany Lions a 15-8 lead with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter.
- Rutgers closed the game with a goal from Kulas with 2:53 remaining to result in the 15-9 Nittany Lion victory.
GOALTENDERS
- Junior Jack Fracyon recorded 14 saves while allowing just nine goals. His record improved to 9-3 on the year.
STATS AND NOTES
- TJ Malone and Matt Traynor each scored four goals.
- Penn State improves its record to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in Big Ten play.
- This is the ninth game this season the Nittany Lions have held a team to under 10 goals.
- Penn State clinched their 14th Friendship Cup in program history.
UP NEXT
- Penn State now turns their attention to Big Ten Tournament action when they host the number six seed on Saturday, April 27. Game-time is TBA.