ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Penn State (3-1, 0-0 Big Ten) put together an 8-0 run and held the Navy men's lacrosse team (2-2, 0-0 Patriot League) scoreless over the final 29-plus minutes of the contest, as the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions went on to post a 13-3 victory over the Midshipmen Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. While it was the 39th meeting in the series, it was the first time the two programs had met since 2003 when they were both members of the ECAC Lacrosse League.

"Penn State is an excellent lacrosse team, they are very good," said fifth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. "But we wasted an effort. We played our tails off, but we gave them opportunities that they capitalized on. The failed clears in the first quarter and then in the third quarter absolutely killed us. I thought their goalie played excellent in the first half and if you can one or two of those, it gives our offense a little bit more confidence. I'm not saying if we execute more we win this game today because Penn State was sharp as can be.

"I give our guys credit. Going down 4-0 to a team like that, they could have folded and they went right back at those guys. It was fun to see. I'm proud of our guys for how hard they played; it was different than last week."

Will Peden and Matt Traynor scored goals in the first 5 minutes of the contest for the Nittany Lions, while All-American TJ Malone's goal at 2:36 in the first quarter put Penn State ahead 4-0.

Navy cut into the Penn State lead when Max Hewitt (Sr / M / Denver, Colo.) slipped his defender and sent his underhand shot past the stick of All-American goalkeeper and Annapolis native Jack Fracyon two minutes into the second quarter. The Mids made it two in a row when Xavier Arline (Sr / A / Wading River, N.Y.) fed Jack Flaherty (So / M / Massapequa, N.Y.) from behind the goal and Flaherty targeted his 12-yard shot.

The Mids' defense held the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard for better than 15 minutes before getting the final say of the opening half, as Peden scored his third goal of the game off a perfect catch-and-shoot goal just outside of the crease to give Penn State a 5-2 lead at the break.

Navy opened the second half with a quick goal, as Zach Hayashi (Fr / FO / North Potomac, Md.) won the opening faceoff and fed co-captain Jackson Peters (Sr / SSDM / Darien, Conn.) for the goal just 10 seconds into the third quarter to trim the deficit to 2. That goal would be the last for the Mids, as Penn State put together an 8-0 run to close out the game.

"It was a great second quarter and starting the second half with that goal by Jackson (Peters), you think that gives us some life," added Amplo. "Then on the ensuing play we have a failed clear. We had to play defense for 5 minutes. Two failed clears in a row and they scored on both of them. The failed clears just deflated us."

Both teams struggled to clear the ball over the course of the game (Navy 16 for 21 / Penn State 20-25), while Navy committed a season-high 19 turnovers. Mistakes the Mids were unable to overcome against a team that played in last year's Championship Weekend in Philadelphia.

One of the brights spots for the Mids continues to be the play of Hayashi who closed out the game winning 11 of the 19 draws he took, along with a career-high 7 ground balls, a caused turnover and his first-collegiate assist. The first-year player dominated in the opening half, winning 7 of the 9 draws against Colby Baldwin. Penn State put in Chase Mullins, the nation's No. 7 overall recruit including the No. 1 faceoff player in the Class of 2022, at the start of the second half with Mullins besting Hayashi 6-4.

Seven different players scored for Penn State, including Peden who paced the team with 4 goals while Traynor, the team's leading scorer this spring, turned in 3 goals and a pair of assists.

Defensively, Penn State's Will Costin and Alex Ross caused a combined 5 Navy turnovers, while Fracyon closed out the game with 15 saves against the 3 goals by the Mids.

Navy returns to action next Saturday when it travels to Boston to battle the Terriers in the Patriot League opener for both teams. Faceoff is set for 1:00 pm at Nickerson Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, however there will be no radio coverage.

### Go Navy ###