Penn State men’s lacrosse will wait another year to compete for its first national championship appearance in program history. The No. 5-seeded Nittany Lions’ promising 2025 campaign concluded with a 11-9 loss to No. 1 Cornell in the NCAA Tournament semifinals in Boston on Saturday.
Liam Matthews scored four goals, including two behind-the-back finishes, as Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Matt Traynor scored twice in the defeat. Traynor’s second goal made it a one-point game with 9:35 to play. Big Red midfielder Hugh Kelleher followed by completing a hat trick to all but polish off a close victory.
Cornell will play the winner of No. 2 Maryland and No. 6 Syracuse in the national title game at 1 p.m. ET on Monday.
Penn State led by as much as two in the second period, and entered halftime with a one-score advantage. That was before the Big Red scored five unanswered goals to conclude the third period, a run that provided a necessary advantage to send the Nittany Lions packing in their second Final Four appearance in three seasons.
Ethan Long, Kyle Lehman and Will Peden also scored for Penn State in the loss. Cornell’s victory came without CJ Kirst, a Tewaaraton Award finalist and the No. 1 overall selection in the PLL draft, registering a single goal or assist.
More Penn State Sports
View all Penn State Sports
The 2 Kinds of Penn State Football Adversity: In-Game and Post-Game
Penn State coach Matt Campbell talks a lot about handling Adversity. A lot. It’s going to come, he says. It’s how you handle it. Adversity came to Beaver Stadium on […]
Penn State Falls Out of AP Top 25 After Loss to Wisconsin
Penn State has taken a tumble out of the rankings. The Nittany Lions on Sunday afternoon were dropped from the AP Top 25 entirely following a 24-20 upset loss at […]
Matt Campbell Evaluates Penn State’s Loss to Wisconsin
Standing at the podium in the media room beneath Beaver Stadium, Penn State head coach Matt Campbell wrestled with the harsh reality of a game that slipped away. The Homecoming […]
