On icy turf, Villanova men’s lacrosse opened its season, suffering a 15-5 defeat to Penn State on Sunday.
The Nittany Lions entered the 2025 season ranked No. 12 in the nation after going 11-5 and 3-2 in the Big Ten last season.
Penn State and Villanova have regularly met over the past four seasons. The ‘Cats have won two of the last four meetings, but suffered a 18-10 defeat in 2024.
Despite the defeat, Villanova head coach Mike Corrado felt his team played strong for the majority of the game against the only nationally-ranked opponent on the schedule.
“I thought our defense played great for three quarters,” Corrado said. “[The team] fought hard, but we just made too many mistakes on offense and we got to clean up the many turnovers. You gotta play 60 minutes. We played about 40 good minutes today.”
The game began with Penn State winning the opening face-off.
Villanova turnovers early in the game proved costly. The Wildcats committed 20 turnovers across the game, while forcing 19 from the Nittany Lions.
Penn State sophomore attacker Kyle Lehman opened the scoring at the 9:51 mark.
Three minutes later, the Wildcats responded off a goal from redshirt sophomore Colin Michener
The game remained tied for five minutes, but Penn State senior midfielder Matt Traynor regained the lead for the Nittany Lions with 1:56 left in the first quarter. Villanova senior attacker Luke Raymond tied the game just two minutes into the second quarter.
Traynor remained difficult for Villanova to control, scoring a second goal to regain Penn State’s lead. The Nittany Lions went into halftime up 4-2.
Following the intermission, Michener was dangerous on the attack. He had three of the first four attempts on goal for the Wildcats.
Villanova graduate attacker Matt Licata took Villanova’s third attempt on goal and scored to open the second half.
Relentless pressure from the Wildcats created a break on Penn State’s attack. That break led to a goal from senior midfielder Mack Prybylski, which tied the game.
Penn State instantly responded. Less than two minutes later, a solo goal from sophomore attacker Ryan DiRocco gave Penn State a 5-4 lead.
With a 1:28 left in the third quarter, graduate midfielder Jack Aimonee put the Nittany Lions up by two. Two additional goals were scored to give Penn State a 8-4 lead.
After conceding four unanswered goals, the Wildcats entered the fourth quarter facing their biggest deficit of the game. Prior to the third and fourth quarters, the widest margin had been just two goals.
The Wildcats went on to concede nine unanswered goals, bringing the score to 13-4.
Traynor opened the fourth quarter scoring, followed by goals from Lehman and junior midfielder Mac Hobbs. The three goals grew Penn State’s lead from 8-4 to 11-4. With 7:55 left in the game Hunter Aquino scored to grow the lead to 12-4. This was followed by Traynor’s fourth goal of the game.
Villanova’s scoring drought ended with 5:49 to play, after a goal from redshirt sophomore David Link off an assist from senior Tyler Boes.
The Nittany Lions scored on the next possession courtesy of sophomore attacker, Colby Baldwin. Senior midfielder Luke Waldstrum then scored off of Traynor’s second assist.
The slippery conditions were a challenge, but something Corrado felt is no excuse.
“This is normal,” Corrado said. “There will be a little snow on the ground, and it’ll be cold. It’s always kind of crummy this early season. So we really didn’t say anything about it. We didn’t look at it any different.”
The Wildcats will now prepare for a Saturday afternoon matchup with No. 9 Yale on Feb. 15 (Noon, FloSports).
“We’ll be off tomorrow, then they’ll come on Tuesday, and we’ll watch film,” Corrado said. “We’ll start getting ready for Yale, which is another top 10 team, so it’s gonna be another good challenge for us.”
