The Penn State men’s lacrosse team’s national championship chase came to an end on Sunday afternoon.
Despite a valiant effort, the Nittany Lions fell to No. 1 overall seed Princeton by a 14-10 score, ending their run in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. It was the team’s ninth appearance in the big dance since 2003 and fourth trip to the quarterfinal round.
Though head coach Jeff Tambroni’s squad was outshot 49-27, netminder Preston Hawkins had a strong day, tallying 17 saves. Penn State even took a 10-9 lead early in the fourth quarter before allowing five consecutive Tiger goals.
Offensively, Chase Robertson led the team with three goals, while Kyle Lehman added two and Andrew Beard, Alex Ross, Mark Watters, John Jude Considine and Liam Matthews also scored. Tucker Wade led the way for Princeton with four goals.
With the loss, the Nittany Lions dropped to 10-6 overall on the year, but highlights include beating the Tigers during the regular season, winning a share of the regular season Big Ten title and winning the Big Ten tournament. They also won an opening round NCAA tournament game against Army last weekend by a 10-6 margin.
