Penn State Men’s Lacrosse to Host Towson in NCAA Tournament Opener

Penn State men’s lacrosse will host Towson in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at noon on Saturday as the No. 7 overall seed. The game will air live on ESPNU.

Jeff Tambroni’s Nittany Lions (12-3, 3-3 Big Ten) tied the program record for regular-season wins and are one of eight teams to earn an at-large bid. The other eight automatically qualified via winning their respective conference championships.

It’s the first time since 2013 that the Nittany Lions have made the 16-team field and the program’s first at-large bid. Rounding out the rest of Penn State’s portion of the bracket are No. 2 seed Syracuse and Yale, which beat the Nittany Lions 10-7 in their last NCAA Tournament appearance. The Final Four will be held May 27 and 29 at Gillette Stadium — the home of the New England Patriots — in Foxborough, Mass.

Penn State has outscored its opponents 205-159 this season. Freshman attacker Mac O’Keefe led the way offensively with 46 goals, while unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection Nick Aponte paced the Nittany Lions with 32 assists. Fellow conference honoree Grant Ament showed remarkable balance with a team-high 55 points (27 goals) on the year.