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enn State led Villanova 18-10 halfway through the fourth quarter on Feb. 8, but the theatrics weren’t finished. 

On a fast break, Grant Ament dished a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Dylan Foulds, who completed a hat-trick with a jumping bounce shot. It's not the first time the redshirt-senior attackmen linked up for a flashy goal. The sequence was almost a carbon copy of the moves they pulled off (twice) in a 19-13 win against Cornell last spring at the Crown Lacrosse Classic. 

Foulds was quick to downplay his role. 

“All I have to do is make sure I watch the ball into my stick, close my eyes, and shoot it as hard as I can,” he said. “I have the easy part.” 

Foulds made sure to highlight the guys who “do the little things that lead to the big thing,” as head coach Jeff Tambroni constantly emphasizes. After he scored, Foulds high-fived Ament, then immediately pointed to long-stick middie Sam Sweeney and faceoff specialist Gerard Arceri, who ignited the transition chance.

Foulds compared the Nittany Lions’ offense that’s averaged 18 goals a game this season to a blank canvas. Most afternoons, it turns into a masterpiece. While it’s easy to get eclipsed when your running mates are Ament and Mac O’Keefe, the team’s production stems from a belief that ego is the enemy and the sum is greater than its parts.

“A lot of people look at what we do offensively and look at Grant and Mac, and rightfully so," Penn State assistant coach John Haus said. “But a lot of our offense works the way it does because of guys like Dylan Foulds and Jack Kelly. Those guys don't necessarily get as much publicity, but they do so much for us because of their off-ball play. They open up a lot of their teammates for good opportunities.”

Though Foulds prefers to talk about the “full team effort” far more than his own exploits, he’s maximized his opportunities. Last spring he scored 43 goals while shooting 44.3 percent and added 13 assists in 18 games.

The only two games Penn State dropped in 2019 came against Yale, including a 21-17 upset in the Nittany Lions' first-ever NCAA semifinal appearance. The No. 1 team in the country will get its chance at payback this weekend when they face the No. 3 Bulldogs at Panzer Stadium on Saturday. 

Described as “insanely detail-oriented” in his preparation, Foulds’ meticulousness doesn’t extend to every facet of his college life. 

“I would describe his room as controlled chaos,” said former Penn State defenseman Robby Black, who was roommates with Foulds the last four years. “He knows where everything is, but it's all over the place.”

Foulds gained a sense of place at State College. 

“He lives and breathes Penn State lacrosse,” Black said. 

He met Foulds for the first time after he made the three-hour drive from his family’s home in Lutherville, Md., for his senior recruiting visit in the fall of 2014. Foulds traveled much farther. 

A native of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Foulds discovered lacrosse during an after-school clinic when he was kindergarten. The first game he attended was during the Coquitlam Adanacs’ Mann Cup win in 2001. Foulds was fascinated by the speed and intensity of the sport and how ecstatic the 4,000-plus fans became after goals. He adhered to the Wayne Gretzky schedule and played hockey in the fall and winter, then lacrosse in the spring and summer. Throughout his formative years, he’d watch Curtis Dickson or Wes Berg pull off an “absurd” goal, then try to mimic their moves at the local box. 

Still, college lacrosse was a far-fetched concept for Foulds until Corbyn Tao-Brambleby, who coached one of his youth teams, went to play for Robert Morris in 2008. Foulds determined then he would take a similar path. 

He remembered typing up countless emails to coaches asking for a shot. After he played “pretty well” at the Best of West Lacrosse Showcase on Vancouver Island, Foulds was contacted by Peter Toner, Penn State’s associate head coach.

During Foulds’ recruiting visit to State College — where he watched the Nittany Lions take on Ohio State in front of a white-out crowd at Beaver Stadium — he wanted to commit on the spot. Tambroni told him to give it some thought. Foulds waited all of two days. 

After he arrived on campus, though, there was a “huge adjustment period,” Foulds said. That included the vernacular. He called sweatshirts sweaters. Beanies were toques. His pronunciation of pasta, “paaasta,” drew strange looks. His teammates referred in jest to the Minto Cup, Canada’s Junior A Lacrosse National Championship, as the Pinto Bean Cup. 

Foulds, a natural midfielder who transitioned to attack, also struggled at first to adjust to the field game. The structure, spacing and angles were all foreign to him. 

“Damn, am I ever going to get this right?” he thought some days.

While frustrated at times, Foulds knew he had the ability to play at this level.

“I’m a firm believer that if somebody else can do it, then why not you?” he said. 

Things started to click his redshirt-freshman year until he broke his thumb at the beginning of the fourth quarter in the first game of the season against Robert Morris. Foulds remained in the game and scored his first career goal. The injury, however, required surgery and sidelined him for 12 weeks. 

Despite the setback, he bolstered his confidence through a commitment that he’s modeled after one of his favorite athletes — Kobe Bryant. 

“His work ethic is unmatched,” Haus said of Foulds. “He doesn't necessarily say a whole bunch, but you know when he is in the weight room, he's on the field, he's in the film room … He is by far one of our fittest guys on the team.” 

Foulds spent Thanksgiving with Robby Black and his family in Maryland, but there was another tradition he had to embrace: Penn State lacrosse’s 5K Turkey Trot. Since his redshirt-freshman year, Foulds has always finished first. He dominates sprints and longer distance runs during practice, too. 

“He can run for days,” Black said. 

One thing Foulds hasn’t managed to outrun is the time he went viral for something other than a slick play. Those who know the quiet kid who won the Minto Cup in 2018 with the Coquitlam Adanacs were probably surprised when they watched Penn State top UMBC 25-10 for the program’s first NCAA tournament win. Foulds scored four goals. But it was his “Post-Grad Goal” displayed on an ESPN graphic that got people talking. 

Find a Girlfriend.

“Oh my God,” Foulds thought after the game when he learned Barstool Sports tweeted the graphic and that he was going viral. “Coach T is going to be pissed at me.”

Foulds didn’t think anyone would see the answer he wrote in the 25-part questionnaire ESPN distributed earlier that spring. It was meant to be a joke. It got picked up by The Athletic. 

“He is definitely not the type of guy that likes being in the spotlight,” Black said. “When that happened, he was really uncomfortable with it, which made it even more funny.”

The story trailed Penn State on its run to the final four, where it remained a frequent topic of conversation. 

“We're going to get that man a girlfriend before the weekend is over,” ESPN play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff said after Foulds completed a textbook backdoor cut and inside finish to cut Yale’s lead to 12-9 three minutes before halftime. 

“If he keeps playing like that, he won't need us,” analyst Quint Kessenich added. 

Lost amid the easy punchlines and the loss was Foulds’ performance. He scored 11 goals in three NCAA tournament games, including a career-high five against Yale. But more indicative of how Foulds got to this point was how he continued competing even when Yale sprinted to a 10-1 lead. 

“He is going to keep his head down and work as hard as he possibly can no matter what the score or situation is,” Haus said. 

While last year’s experience offers added motivation for the Nittany Lions to make another Memorial Day run, Foulds said he’ll be on his toes if he gets another questionnaire. When asked what he’d write for his post-grad goal this year, he let out a long, “oooh.”

“I've got to be careful answering this one to make sure it doesn't go viral,” he said. 

He pondered his answer for a few seconds. 

“I'm not too focused on what happens after graduation right now,” Foulds said. “All I'm focused on is what I have left here at Penn State. This place has given me the world.”