2024 NCAA Lacrosse Preview: No. 4 Penn State (Men)

The 2024 Division I men's college lacrosse starts Feb. 2. We’re featuring every team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 leading up to opening day.

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NO. 4 PENN STATE

2023 Record: 11-5 (4-1 Big Ten)
Final Ranking (2023): 4
Head Coach: Jeff Tambroni (14th year)
Assistants: John Haus, Joe Bucci, Andy Meyers

Perhaps no team felt the sting of the pandemic more than Penn State.

The Nittany Lions had an all-time talent in Tewaaraton finalist Grant Ament and momentum on their side after ascending to a No. 1 national ranking and making their first championship weekend appearance in 2019.

Then came the coronavirus. The 2020 season was lost, Ament went pro and Penn State regressed with consecutive losing seasons — bottoming out with a 3-11 finish in 2022, their worst season since Jeff Tambroni took the reins from longtime coach Glenn Thiel in 2011.

No one saw 2023 coming. Except maybe TJ Malone, now the last vestige left of the 2019 team. A year after undergoing three surgeries, the sixth-year senior attackman came back with a vengeance. He started all 16 games, led the Big Ten in scoring with 73 points (39 goals, 34 assists) and exploded in the NCAA tournament with 18 points in three games.

Malone’s comeback, Jack Posey’s emergence as one of the nation’s best cover defensemen and Jack Fracyon’s rise as an All-American goalie inspired Penn State’s remarkable turnaround.

Two years ago, the Nittany Lions were 1-6 in games decided by two goals or fewer, a mark that improved to 5-4 in 2023, including one-goal victories over Princeton and Army in the NCAA tournament and a heartbreaking overtime loss to Duke in the final four on a controversial goal that would compel the rules committee to implement instant replay for crease violations.

Penn State scrimmaged Bucknell and Army the last two weeks. The Nittany Lions host Colgate in their 2024 season opener Saturday at Panzer Stadium

“We’ll have worked 27 straight days to get to that final day of preseason and play Colgate,” Tambroni said Monday. “At the very least I hope we’ll have an extremely energetic and motivated team take the field. At the same time I want the guys to enjoy the moment. Go out, relax and lean back on the training we’ve installed over the last three to four weeks. Good results will follow.”

TOP RETURNERS

TJ Malone, A, Gr.
Matt Traynor, A, Jr.
Jack Fracyon, G, Jr.

Penn State’s about face in 2023 was a matter of improved efficiency.

According to Lacrosse Reference, the Nittany Lions ranked 11th among Division I teams in offensive efficiency (35.4%), third in adjusted shooting percentage (35.7%) and third in adjusted on-goal shooting percentage (56.6%). Each of those metrics were up more than 5 percentage points versus 2022.

Malone’s attack mates Jack Traynor and Kevin Winkoff graduated. Traynor’s younger brother, Matt, moves from midfield to attack after a breakout sophomore season in which he scored 32 goals. He plays with an element of swagger.

“He has never lacked confidence,” Tambroni said. “It becomes contagious. He is a force.”

There will be growing pains as Traynor and possibly Kyle Lehman — the highly touted freshman ranked No. 6 among attackman in Inside Lacrosse’s Power 100 — acclimate to new roles in offensive coordinator John Haus’ system.

“It can’t just be all gas and no brakes,” Tambroni said. “[Traynor] needs to be a better game manager as well as someone that’s going to perform at a high level for us — to add layers of IQ and understanding what it means to be an attackman down there so we can utilize that confidence and at the same time sustain a more efficient level.”

KEY ADDITIONS

Sean Donnelly, A, Sr. (Drexel)
James Dalimonte, M, Gr. (Muhlenberg)
Kyle Lehman, A, Fr. (Wissahickon, Pa.)

Penn State’s offensive depth led to nine different players contributing at least 10 goals last year. In addition to the highly productive attack, midfielders Ethan Long (team-high five goals against Princeton) and Jake Morin (three assists each against Army and Duke) broke out of their shell in the NCAA tournament. Mac Costin and Luke Mercer also had their moments. These three additions only add to the Nittany Lions’ arsenal. Donnelly started every game in his three seasons at Drexel and was a two-time All-CAA attackman. Dalimonte was a three-time Division III All-American at Muhlenberg. And Lehman has looked explosive with the ball in his stick during his first fall and preseason in Happy Valley.

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Jack Traynor, A; Kevin Winkoff, A

Transfers: Gerald Filardi, LSM (Stony Brook); Tyler Kuprianchik, FO

X-FACTOR

Jack Posey, D, Gr.

Penn State’s efficiency metrics were even better on the defensive side of the field. Led by Fracyon and Posey, the Nittany Lions ranked fourth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (24.7%), adjusted save percentage (59.0%), adjusted shooting percentage (24.2%) and adjusted on-goal shooting percentage (41.1%).

Posey tore his ACL in Penn State’s NCAA quarterfinal win over Army and underwent offseason knee surgery. While he looked plenty healthy in a recent Instagram post that included a video of him sprinting from a single-leg kneel and a photo of an aluminum bleacher spray painted with the words “be great” in all caps, there is no definitive timeline for his return.

“He looks great,” Tambroni said. “But there’s a huge difference between looking good running around and being able to get back on the field and playing a contact sport on a knee that has been surgically repaired within the last eight months.”

Alex Ross (team-high 14 caused turnovers as a freshman), Kevin Parnum and Sam Sweeney will hold down the fort until Posey returns and allows Sweeney to bump back up to long pole. Penn State also added three-time Division III All-American defenseman Joe Scarfi, a sixth-year transfer from St. Lawrence.

It helps that second-team preseason All-American short stick d-middie Grant Haus can nullify nearly any threat from up top with nary a slide needed.

THE NARRATIVE

Did Penn State just get hot at the right time or are the Nittany Lions legitimate championship weekend contenders? They’ve been to the NCAA tournament six times since 2003, but never in consecutive seasons.

Chemistry changes even with departures as subtle as Penn State sustained. Tambroni acknowledged as much Monday.

What Tambroni won’t say is how much the Nittany Lions are motivated by the unfair finish to their final four run. Perhaps they’ll take a page out of Notre Dame’s playbook, embrace the snub and put together their own revenge tour.

ENEMY LINES

“Return a lot of guys. I thought last year was a good bounceback year for them. Obviously having a good year last year definitely showed how important it is if you can just get in the playoffs and get W’s, you can do well. They had three one-goal games in the tournament. They return a lot. Getting Malone to come back, you have the player of the year in the league back. They should bring a ton of experience back this year.”