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Penn State Men's Lacrosse Falls to No. 1 Princeton in NCAA Quarterfinals

The Nittany Lions end their season one win short of a return trip to the NCAA semifinals.
Mark Wogenrich|
A general view of the Penn State Nittany Lions logo inside Beaver Stadium prior to the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
A general view of the Penn State Nittany Lions logo inside Beaver Stadium prior to the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The Penn State men's lacrosse team fell a win short of a return trip to the NCAA semifinals, falling to top-seeded Princeton 14-10. The Nittany Lions ended their season at 11-6, falling just short of their second straight trip to the NCAA Final Four.

Penn State kept the game close through three periods, forging a 9-9 tie entering the fourth. But Princeton, which entered the game with the nation's third-ranked scoring offense, outscored the Nittany Lions 5-1 in the final period.

Chase Robertson actually gave the Nittany Lions a 10-9 lead early in the fourth, but the Tigers flexed their No. 1 national ranking with four straight goals to take control. Princeton sealed the game with a goal on a Penn State empty net for the final margin.

Robertson scored a hat trick on seven shots to lead Penn State. Kyle Lehman added three points with two goals and an assist, and Liam Matthews added a goal and an assist.

But turnovers were an issue for Penn State. The Nittany Lions committed 17 to Princeton's 13. The Tigers also outshot Penn State 31-18 and won 11 more faceoffs (19-8) in the game.

Eighth-seeded Penn State had hoped to repeat its February win over Princeton, which was the Tigers' first game of that season. The Nittany Lions led that game from wire-to-wire in New Jersey, scoring seven first-period goals en route to a 13-7 victory.

Princeton was ranked No. 3 in the country at the time. Since then, the Tigers (15-2) have lost just one game and enter the NCAA semifinals on a 10-game win streak.

The Nitttany Lions sought to make the NCAA semifinals for the second straight year and third time since 2023. Penn State entered Sunday's game ranked eighth nationally after winning the Big Ten Tournament title.

Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni ended his 16th season with his sixth 10-win season and third in the last four seasons. Tambroni has won 249 career games as a head coach, sixth-most among active Division I men's lacrosse coaches.

Tambroni entered Sunday's game with a 65.4 career winning percentage, which ranks 12th among active Division I head coaches.

Princeton will take on Duke in the NCAA semifinals May 23 at the University of Virginia's Scott Stadium. Syracuse will face Notre Dame in the other semifinal. The NCAA men's lacrosse title game is scheduled for May 25 at Scott Stadium.

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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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