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How to Watch Penn State vs. Army West Point in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament

The Nittany Lions host the Black Knights in a duel between two long-running programs.
Mark Wogenrich|
Members of the Penn State Nittany Lions Lions men's lacrosse arrive at Gillette Stadium before the 2025 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament.
Members of the Penn State Nittany Lions Lions men's lacrosse arrive at Gillette Stadium before the 2025 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

More than two centuries of men's lacrosse tradition will take the field Saturday at Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. The eighth-seeded Nittany Lions host unseeded Army West Point, with faceoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET.

Army West Point played its first men's lacrosse game in 1097, and Penn State fielded its first team in 1921. Combined, the programs have played more than 200 years of men's lacrosse and have made a total of five Final Four appearances.

What to watch Saturday? Here's a look at the Penn State vs. Army game.

How to watch Penn State vs. Army West Point men's lacrosse

The Nittany Lions will host Army in an NCAA first-round game at Panzer Stadium in State College. The game is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. ET start and will be broadcast on ESPNU. It can be streamed on ESPN+.

What's at stake

The winner of the Penn State-Army West Point game advances to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament and will face either top-seeded Princeton or Marist, That quarterfinal game is set for May 17 at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.

Penn State is ranked seventh in the latest KANE Men's D1 Media Poll, while Army is 12th.

About the Penn State Nittany Lions

Penn State (9-5) enters the NCAA Tournament on a three-game win streak, which includes a 16-8 victory over Johns Hopkins for the Big Ten Tournament title. The Nittany Lions earned the Big Ten's automatic tournament bid with the win.

Penn State is making its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the longest active streak in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions have qualified for nine tournaments since 2003 and reached the Final Four twice in the last three seasons. Penn State fell to Duke in theNCAA championship game in 2023.

This season, Penn State had three players named as USA Lacrosse All-Americans. Senior defenseman Alex Ross was named to the second, team, senior short-stick defensive midfielder Jon King earned third-team honors and sophomore faceoff Reid Gills received honorable mention. Ross was eighth overall pick of the New York Atlas in the 2026 Premier League Lacrosse draft.

Penn State led the Big Ten in margin of victory (3.93 goals per game) with one of the nation's top scoring defenses. The Nittany Lions are tied for eighth in goals allowed (8.3 per game).

And Penn State's offense spreads the scoring. The team is tied for 15th nationally offensively (12.86 goals per game) despite having no one ranked among the top 45 players in points per game. Jack Iannantuono leads Penn State in points (35), with Kyle Lehman generating 34 with a team-high 24 goals.

Penn State's last game against Army West Point went well. The Nittany Lions beat the Black Knights 10-9 in the 2023 NCAA Tournament to reach the Final Four. However, Army holds a 29-4 edge in the all-time series, which dates to 1922.

About the Army West Point Black Knights

Army qualified for the NCAA Tournament by defeating Loyola (Maryland) 14-7 for the Patriot League title. The Black Knights are tough to score on, ranking fourth nationally in scoring defense (8.38 goals allowed per game) and bring four All-Americans to Penn State.

Army's top player to watch is midfielder Evan Plunkett, a first-team All-American and the fourth overall pick of the 2026 Premier League Lacross draft. Plunkett leads Army in points (62) and ranks fourth nationally with 23 goals.

Goalkeeper Sean Byrne, an honorable-mention All-American, leads the nation with a .612 save percentage and made a career-high 196 saves this season. He has allowed 124 goals in 16 games.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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