UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- No. 5 Penn State men’s lacrosse secures fourth-straight win with 22-8 final over Robert Morris. The Nittany Lions improve to 6-1, 0-0 Big Ten while the Colonials fall to 3-4, 0-0 NEC. PSU’s 22 goals is a season high along with 14 different goal scorers as a single-game season record.
Senior Ethan Long led the offense with four goals while also adding an assist, matching his career best five points on the afternoon. Senior Luke Walstrum tallied a personal best three goals on three shot attempts to go along with two assists, matching his career high points at five. Sophomore Liam Matthews notched his second consecutive hat-trick, marking the third PSU player with three-or-more goals. Nils Barry made his first appearance since 2023, tallying two goals on two shots. Senior Will Peden, freshman Hunter Aquino, senior Jack Aimone and senior Kyle Aldridge all posted one goal. Sophomore Brenden Leary, senior Garrett Glatz, sophomore Kris Henning, sophomore Patrick Carragher, junior Jon King and junior Joe Calandrino all added their first career goals. Freshman Reid Gills saw significant time at the face-off x, winning 10-of-12.
FIRST QUARTER - 6-4 Penn State
- Penn State scored within 12 seconds of the opening whistle. Colby Baldwin found Aldridge following the face-off win.
- Robert Morris responded with a goal but PSU answered with two-straight goals from Long and Walstrum.
- The Colonials went on a 3-0 scoring run to take the lead for the first and only time in the game at 4-3.
- The Nittany Lions finished the quarter scoring three unanswered goals from Aimone, Leary and Long to recapture the advantage at 6-4. Long’s goal came with :03 on the clock.
SECOND QUARTER – 12-4 Penn State
- Penn State held Robert Morris from scoring in the second stanza while adding six goals of its own.
- Walstrum added the first goal on an unassisted cut around the circle.
- Henning’s first career goal came next off a feed from Peden.
- Long tallied two goals during this time frame.
- Peden also found his only goal of the day, a gritty, unassisted, diving goal.
- Glatz had the final goal of the quarter off a pass from Walstrum.
THIRD QUARTER – 17-6 Penn State
- Robert Morris’ only two goals of the stanza were split by a goal from Matthews following a pass from Aimone.
- PSU went on another scoring run, tallying four unanswered goals to run out the third quarter.
- King, Carragher, Aquino and Walstrum all found the back of the net during this seven-minute stretch.
FOURTH QUARTER – 22-8
- Some new faces recorded goals in the final stanza.
- After an opening goal for the Colonials, Matthews added back-to-back goals.
- Nils’ two goals were broken up by one final goal from Robert Morris.
- Calandrino had PSU’s 22nd goal of the day, marking the most goals scored by Penn State in a game this season.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Penn State’s 14 goal scorers is the largest number of different scorers in a game this season.
- Long matched his career high in points with five while Walstrum also met his career best at five.
- Aimone posted a personal best six points using one goal and a career high five assists.
- Matthews added his second-straight hat-trick, after scoring three in his previous outing marking a career high.
- Leary, Henning, Carragher, King and Calandrino all had first career goals.
- Penn State outshot Robert Morris 49-28 and won the ground ball battle 42-34.
- As a team, the Nittany Lions totaled 37 points, the most of the season.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions begin Big Ten play on Sunday, March 23 when they take on Ohio State. The game is slated to start at 7 p.m. and will be nationally televised on the Big Ten Network.