Penn State epic comeback topples Notre Dame to reach NCAA semis
The Penn State men’s lacrosse program is going back to the Final Four. For the third time in the past six seasons, Jeff Tambroni’s team advanced through the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon, this time topping Notre Dame, 14-12, behind a remarkable six-goal performance from Matt Traynor.
And the Nittany Lions needed one of the most dramatic and compelling comebacks in the history of the sport’s NCAA Tournament to do it.
In a one-sided first half that saw the Fighting Irish take a comfortable 8-3 advantage to the break, Penn State’s response appeared futile in a game that tightened to 9-6, then ballooned to 12-6 in favor of Notre Dame with just 21 minutes left to play. But an avalanche of scoring started by Liam Matthews upended the dynamic.
Beginning with Matthews’ goal with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter, the Nittany Lions started an eight-score run to knock off the two-time defending national champs. In quick succession, Ethan Long sent home his second score of the game, followed by Traynor’s eye-popping score to get it back to a three-goal deficit going into the fourth quarter.
From there, the hat-trick club grew through the fourth quarter.
Beginning with back-to-back Kyle Lehman scores, first at the 13:52 mark and again with 12:44 left to play, Penn State closed its deficit to just one at 12-11. The first time within a goal since Notre Dame’s Chris Kavanagh scored with 1:41 left to play in the first quarter, Penn State wasn’t done.
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Instead, Traynor tied the game with a goal-crashing run through the heart of Notre Dame’s defense with 8:34 left to play.
Not finished, Traynor needed little more than another minute to send home his sixth goal of the game at the 7:27 mark, putting Penn State ahead, 13-12. And, not to be outdone, a Liam Matthews assist to Long produced one of the game’s highlight scores from behind his head in the middle of traffic. Putting the Nittany Lions up 14-12, the score gave Tambroni’s side a cushion it wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way.
In what had been a difficult afternoon for Jack Fracyon in goal, allowing eight goals on 22 shots in the first half, credited with seven saves for a save percentage of 46.7, he clamped down the rest of the way with a handful of key stops against Notre Dame’s attempts at the goal in the final minutes.
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