MEN’S LACROSSE: Elis fall to Nittany Lions in high-scoring game
The Bulldogs dropped their third game of the season to Penn State 9–15.
Liza Kaufman, Staff Photographer
The men’s lacrosse team (0–3, 0–0 Ivy) returned to action on Saturday, facing Penn State (4–1, 0–0 Big Ten). Despite fighting strongly, the Nittany Lions triumphed over the Elis, with a final score of 9-15.
Both teams put up strong defenses to start the first period with no goals until almost the ten-minute mark when Penn State took a 3-0 lead. Yale’s Cole Cashion ’27 turned things around for the Elis, scoring unassisted and putting the Bulldogs on the scoreboard. This marked his first goal of the season.
However, the Nittany Lions refused to let the Elis narrow their lead, returning with three consecutive goals. Play in the first period continued to heat up, with Yale’s attackman Leo Johnson ’25 assisting midfielder Johnny Keib ’25 to score at 2:06. Shortly after, midfielder Carson Kuhl ’25 scored an unassisted goal of his own, narrowing the gap to 3-6. Penn State won the following faceoff, scoring the final goal of the period in the last 35 seconds to end the period with a 7-3 lead over the Bulldogs.
In the second period, Penn State forged on; however, Attackman Chris Lyons ’25 assisted midfielder Brad Sharp ’26 to put the Bulldogs at 4-8. Nevertheless, the Nittany Lions didn’t let the Elis celebrate long, responding with three back-to-back goals, ending the first half 11-4.
The Nittany Lions charged into the third period with two consecutive goals. The Elis, determined to narrow Penn State’s increasing lead, picked up some momentum. With Lyons’ assist, Keib brought the score to 5-13. The third period saw little remaining action until William Sheehan ’26 rushed the goal unassisted at 1:22, to end the period with the Bulldogs down by seven.
Despite a strong start in the fourth period with two back-to-back goals for the Elis, with Johnson’s unassisted goal and Lyons’ 100th career goal, assisted by first-year attackman Connor Gately ’28, the Bulldogs were not able to overcome Penn State’s lead. With 2:28 left in the game, Kuhl scored his second unassisted goal. The game ended at 15-9 for Penn State.
This defeat marks the Bulldogs’ third consecutive defeat of the season.
The Elis will host No. 15 Denver (3–2, 0–0 Big East) at Reese Stadium on Saturday, March 8 for a 12 p.m. faceoff.