The fifth seeded Penn State Nittany Lions welcome the unseeded Colgate Raiders to Happy Valley on Saturday. The game will faceoff at 5:00 PM EST.
In case you missed the first two previews, check them out below.
The College Lacrosse Show Podcast (Previews All Eight Games)
It’s the second matchup of the year between these foes, with Penn State taking the first one by a score of 14-9. It was the first game of the season for both teams, and Penn State used an 8-goal second quarter to run away from the Raiders. Big Ten Player of the Year Matt Traynor had 5 goals and 2 assists for the Nittany Lions in that game.
Penn State did lost to Colgate last year in dramatic fashion. Penn State’s returning players will be well verse in the famous Colgate ride…
We were unfamiliar with Colgate’s game.
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) February 3, 2024
It’s a 13-12 upset win over No. 4 Penn State to open the season ‼️ pic.twitter.com/Dbh7SAvVYl
Penn State enters the tournament coming off a competitive 10-8 loss to Maryland. The Nittany Lions have not necessarily been dominant all year, but they have played very well against inferior competition. Their four losses have all come to teams above them in the NCAA tournament, with two losses to Maryland, one to Ohio State and one to Princeton.
That is obviously in addition to the best win for any team this year, Penn State’s win in Ithaca over Cornell.
Colgate has had a much more rocky path this year, currently sitting at 10-7. They pulled one of the upsets of the season in the Patriot League semi-finals against Army, then parlayed that momentum into another upset over Boston University in the finals. They crushed the Terriers in the finals 17-10.
It’s the first NCAA Tournament appearance for Colgate since 2015.
Colgate’s strengths and weaknesses are as clear as any team in the country. The Raiders play at easily the fastest pace of any team in the country. They have the nation’s best fifth best ride and third best offence. They also have the 56th best defence (statistically the worst in the tournament) and the 60th best faceoff unit (second worst in the tournament).
Penn State is one of the more balanced groups in the tournament field. The stats for both teams are below.
| Team | RPI | Scoring O | Scoring D | Faceoff |
| Penn State | 4 | 20 | 8 | 10 |
| Colgate | 15 | 3 | 56 | 60 |
Keys to the Game
Penn State – Possession, Possession, Possession
This is easily the most obvious but important key to the game. Colgate has terrorized teams on the ride this year, including forcing 15 failed clears in the Patriot League Tournament. It is clearly a big part of their identity, but also a big necessity. For a team that has a bottom third defence and faceoff, how is it possible that they are so good? The ride slants the math in their favour.
Faceoffs and clears will likely decide this game for the Nittany Lions. Colby Baldwin has been good all year at the X for Penn State, and is coming off a dominant 64% outing vs the Terps. He was equally outstanding in the opener against Colgate, winning 15 of 24 of his draws that day. He will need to be sharp, both in picking up the ball and safely transferring it to the Penn State offence.
In the fourth quarter of the game against Villanova, @PennStateMLAX dialed up a great set piece for faceoff ATHLETE Colby Baldwin
— Lacrosse Culture Daily (@LaxCulturedaily) February 10, 2025
Check out the breakdown from @jdonville13 pic.twitter.com/IdMecavuYS
Baldwin didn’t play against Maryland, but Freshman Reid Gills was dominant, winning 18-22 faceoffs (82%). Whether it is him or Baldwin in there on Saturday, they will need to good against Colgate’s unit.
PSU has been one of the best clearing teams in the country, sitting inside the top ten nationally. They failed just one against Colgate in the opener, converting on 23 of their 24 opportunities. I see very little pathway to victory for the Raiders if this continues, the math is just so stacked against them.
Penn State also showed significant stretches of zone against Maryland. This probably isn’t their preference against Colgate, but one thing it does do is slow the game down. If things start to get helter-skelter, we could see Coach Tambroni turn to this option.
One option I would not expect Penn State to use is the 10-man ride themselves. BU tried to beat Colgate at their own game and use the 10-man against them, which did not work very well. They gifted the Raiders several easy goals and gave them momentum. I think Penn State will and should sell out to stop transition and play 6v6.
Penn State – Midfield Scoring
The strength of Penn State’s offence is in the midfield, where Hunter Aquino, Jack Aimone, Ethan Long and others all had productive years. Matt Traynor is a midfielder at heart, but is playing attack now for the Nittany Lions.
Here is Aquino finding Aimone against Maryland. That’s good stuff.
The downside of this is that PSU doesn’t attack much from behind the cage, which I believe is an important and underrated part of team offence.
Given this fact, it’s important for PSU’s midfielders to hit shots off the dodge, and to play well in the two-man game. They love to use pick and rolls in the high alleys to sweep and get their talented midfielders on the run. These sweep shots can be tricky against a hot goaltender, but they’re the most dependable part of their offence.
A bright spot in the Maryland game in my opinion was Liam Matthews. Playing attack, he got the short-stick against Maryland, but made a series of effective plays to get open looks for his teammates. My guess is he was effective enough to scare Colgate away from the double-pole strategy. That should open up Aquino, Aimone and others to have opportunities in the midfield.
Can Colgate Win Matchups? Or Can Penn State Look Away
The two things that jump out from the Colgate offence are depth and assists. They have four players above 30 goals already and average the fifth most assists in the country. Against BU, they caught the defence napping on several occasions, often finding open men on the interior without really drawing a slide.
Penn State will almost assuredly come out with the idea of winning matchups on ball and playing extremely sticky off the ball (i.e slow to slide). Penn State defenders Alex Ross and Kevin Parnham were both named All-Americans by USA Lacrosse and they will trust those players implicitly.
Frequent slides spell trouble against the Raiders. Liam and Rory Connor are sixth and 20th in the nation respectively in assists and Colgate has several off-ball midfielders who they find inside.
The one guy who can really punish you in the midfield is Hunter Drouin, who’s 48 points this year would put him near the top of middies nationally. With slow slides expected, middies like Drouin will be asked to score on their own against talented goalie Jack Fracyon. This will be one of the biggest matchups to watch in the game.
X Factors
PSU – LSM’s Ryan O’Connor and Lucca DiBartolomeo
The LSM pair for Penn State will be tested early and often by Drouin. This was a somewhat unusual year in terms of the lack of dominant midfielders, so there hasn’t been a ton of work for LSM’s on the ball. As I wrote above, Penn State will be (and should be) hesitant to slide. That starts with great on-ball play from the long sticks.
Colgate will also try to junk up the faceoffs, and these two will need to help Baldwin when he can’t win it clean. This is especially true against star Colgate LSM Max Yates.
Colgate – Goaltender Matt Lacombe
The Colgate netminder had the game of a lifetime against Army, making an incredible 24 saves. The anatomy of an upset typically begins with strong goalie play, and if the faceoffs go how we expect, Lacombe will be vital.
He might not make 24 again, but will need to be sharp for the Raiders.
Who do you think will win this one? Let us know in the comments below!
As a Colgate fan, I found this to be a very fair, not to mention incisive, preview, and I am looking forward to watching the game.
Thanks for reading B.C!