Setting the Stage
• Inside the Game: The (RV/20) Navy men's lacrosse team (3-0, 0-0 Patriot League) will make its first trip to University Park in more than 20 years when the Mids take on 10th-ranked Penn State (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) Saturday afternoon at Panzer Stadium. Faceoff is slated for 1:00 pm. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 38-26 record in his 6 seasons at the helm of the Navy program, while Penn State's Jeff Tambroni has amassed a 120-83 record in his 15 years as the Nittany Lions' head coach. 
• Follow the Action: Saturday's contest will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription based). The game will also be carried live on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV with Joe Miller on the call. Radio coverage begins at 12:45 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.) 

Countdown to Faceoff
10 - Navy has lost just 6 games in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present) when scoring 10 or more goals (32-6, 84.2).
9- While Navy and Penn State are meeting for the 40th time overall, this will be just the 9th time they have played in University Park, Pa.
8- Navy used an 8-1 run in last week's game against #18 Towson to overcome a 3-0 deficit and take the lead for good. During that run, 8 different Navy players scored goals. On the year, 21 different players have scored goals for the Mids.
7- 2024 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and 2025 Preseason All-American Zach Hayashi (So / FO) stands 7th on Navy's career faceoff wins leader board (247-431 / 57.3). He is 21 wins outside of the top 5.
6- William Goers (A) earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors following a 6-point (4G, 2A) performance in the Mids' win over #18 Towson last weekend. It's the most points by a Navy freshman since Sam Jones produced 6 points (3G, 3A) against Lafayette in 2011.
5- Navy is the 5th-oldest (118th year) and 5th-winningest (842-390-14) program in NCAA Div. I men's lacrosse history.
4- Starting defenseman AJ Marsh (So) has scored in goal in 4-consecutive games dating back to last year's Patriot League Semifinals. Thanks to his goal in Navy's opener at High Point, Navy has had a pole (D or LSM) score at least one goal in every season dating back to 1994.
3- The Mids have lost just 3 games when leading at the half (29-3) in the Joe Amplo era (2020-present). Navy has won 13-consecutive games when holding the lead at the break, including both games this spring. 
2- Henry Tolker (Sr / A) needs just 2 goals to move into the top 10 of Navy's all-time goals scored list. Additionally, he is 5 goals shy of becoming only the 10th player in school history to reach the 90-goal milestone. 
1- Over the last 21 games, there has only been 1 game that Henry Tolker (Sr / A) did not score a goal or deal out an assist ... that game was last year against Penn State. For his career, he has produced points in 44 of 49 contests.

About the Series
• Saturday's contest between Navy and Penn State marks the 40th game in a series. The two programs had not met  since 2003 when the two were members of the ECAC Lacrosse League, but rekindled the series a year ago when Penn State defeated the Mids 13-3 in Annapolis.
• Navy and Penn State are the 5th and 6th-oldest programs, respectively, in terms of how many years they have had varsity programs. This is Navy's 118th year (842-390-14), while Penn State is in its 112th season (582-555-8).
• Navy has dominated the series 36-3 and holds a 6-2 advantage in games played in University Park.
• Navy won each of the first 32 games, including the inaugural meeting which took place in Annapolis in 1919. The Mids claimed that first meeting 13-0.
• After meeting one another regularly in the 40s and 50s, the two programs took a break after the 1961 season and did not play one another again until 1992. They played in 1992 and 1993 and again stepped away from the series until 2002 when the two schools joined the ECAC Lacrosse League. Navy won 3 of the 4 games played against the Nittany Lions as members of the league with Penn State winning the final meeting as conference foes, a 5-4 decision in University Park on April 12, 2003.
• This will be the 2nd time Navy's Joe Amplo has played Penn State as a head coach (Navy or Marquette). Meanwhile, Jeff Tambroni will face Navy for the 2nd time as the head coach at Penn State (2011-present / 1-0) and the 4th overall (1-1 at Cornell). Navy defeated Tambroni's Big Red squad 6-5  in the 2004 NCAA Quarterfinals in Ithaca to punch its ticket to the NCAA Semifinals. Cornell, meanwhile, captured an 8-7 overtime victory over the Mids in a neutral site game in Uniondale, N.Y. on Feb. 23, 2008.

Scouting Penn State
• In his 15th season leading the Penn State lacrosse program, head coach Jeff Tambroni has guided the Nittany Lions to a 2-1 record to date. Penn State opened with back-to-back wins over Colgate (14-9) and Villanova (15-5) before dropping an 11-10 overtime decision at home to 8th-ranked Princeton last Saturday.
• Penn State lost 3 of its top-5 scorers from a year ago - TJ Malone (42-36=78), Mac Costin (30-3=33) and Jake Morin (11-20=31). That being said, the Nittany Lions' top goal scorer returns with Matt Traynor (Sr / M) once again atop the scoring list. A year ago Traynor produced 52 points on 45 goals and 7 assists. Through 3 games this season, he has 18 points on 14 goals and 4 assists.
• Hunter Aquino (Fr / M) has filled the gap nicely for Penn State, producing 9 points on 6 goals and 3 assists. Meanwhile, Kyle Lehman, the team's 5th-leading scorer a year ago, has 7 points on 4 goals and 3 assists this season.
• Penn State also returns All-American goalkeeper Jack Fracyon (Sr). The Annapolis native owns an 8.20 goals-against average and a 58.3 save percentage through 3 games.
• The Nittany Lions have a remarkable 34 caused turnovers already with Alex Ross (Jr / D) and Kevin Parnham (Sr / D) leading the way with 7 and 6 takeaways apiece.
• Colby Baldwin (So) has taken the bulk of the faceoffs, winning 45 of the 69 draw (65.2) to date. He leads the team with 17 ground balls and has scored a goal and dealt out an assist.

Towson Takeaways
• Navy avenged last year's loss at Towson by upending the 18th-ranked Tigers in Annapolis last Saturday 14-10.
• Navy used an 8-1 run over the 1st and 2nd quarters to overcome a 3-0 deficit and take the lead for good in the game. Eight different players accounted for goals for the Mids during their run.
• William Goers (Fr / A) garnered Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors following his 6-point (4G, 2A) performance. The 6 points are the most by a Navy freshman since March 12, 2011, when Sam Jones scored 6 points (3G, 3A) against Lafayette. It's the most points by any Navy player since last year's 2nd game of the season when Xavier Arline had the same line (4G, 2A, 6 Pts) against Hofstra in a 16-8 win. Goers' 4 goals are the most by a Navy freshman since March 26, 2022, when current teammate Henry Tolker (Sr / A) punched in 4 against Holy Cross in a 14-8 win.
• Zach Hayashi (So) got the best of Towson's all-time faceoff wins leader Matt Constantinides, winning 16 of the 26 (61.5) draws he took in the contest. He was particularly strong during Navy's 8-1 run, where he won 7 of the 9 draws he took.
• Dan Daly (Jr / GK) closed out the game with 13 saves. He was part of a defense that was able to shore up its game in the second half, as he made 8 of his 13 stops over the final 30 minutes and the Mids held Towson to just 3 second-half goals. With his 13 saves, Daly broke into Navy's all-time top 20 saves leader board where he currently is tied for 18th alongside Jon Higdon (1999-02) with 239 saves.

Road Rules
• The Mids own a 238-186-4 (56.1) all-time record in true road games and a 15-14 (51.7) mark in neutral site games.
• Since the beginning of the 2004 campaign, Navy has won 64 of its 126 (50.8) true road contests.
• Navy has had a losing road record in 6 (2010-11-13-14-17-20) of the last 16 years. The Mids are 13-14 on the road under Joe Amplo in 6 seasons, including 1-0 this year.
• Navy has won road games against nationally-ranked opponents in each of the last 4 seasons. The Mids dealt #15 Loyola a 14-12 loss at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore on April 17, 2021, earned a 12-11 overtime victory against #6 Army at Michie Stadium in West Point on April 23, 2022, knocked off #13 Loyola (11-10) for a second time in Baltimore on April 7, 2023 and defeated #8 Johns Hopkins 10-9 (OT) at Homewood Field on March 15, 2024.
• The 12-11 overtime win at #6 Army in 2022 marked the highest-ranked team Navy has defeated overall and on the road since defeating #3 Yale in New Haven, Conn. on May 15, 2016, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.