Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545007
8 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 OPENING SHOT ON THE ATTACK The Penn State men's lacrosse team had already built a 3-goal lead by the time junior attackman Kyle Lehman (right) slipped an unassisted shot past Army West Point goalkeeper Sean Byrne with 13:40 left to play in the teams' first-round NCAA Tournament clash. But Lehman's fourth- quarter goal from point-blank range gave the Nittany Lions a bigger cushion, and they used it to finish off the Black Knights, 10-6, on May 9 at Panzer Stadium. Army and Penn State may technically be border rivals, with their campuses lying only about 250 miles apart in West Point, N.Y., and State College, Pa., respectively. But there's not really enough shared his- tory between the two programs to call their series a rivalry. At least not enough recent history. Prior to their meeting in this year's NCAA Tournament, the two teams had faced each other just once since the turn of the millennium. Army hadn't played in State College since 1999, two decades before Panzer Stadium even existed. For a long time, Penn State had ample reason to avoid the Black Knights. Starting with a 15-1 victory in 1922, Army owned the series. It won 29 of 30 meetings over a 62-year span, with the Lions' only victory coming when it edged Army, 4-3, at West Point in 1930. The tables have since turned, however. The last time the Black Knights beat Penn State, Ronald Reagan was commander in chief. That was in 1984, when Army pulled out an 8-7 victory in State College. Since then, the Lions have won four in a row. PSU's most recent win was more lop- sided than the score might suggest. The Nittany Lions led for all but about 5 min- utes and totaled 55 shots to the Black Knights' 29. In addition, they had 30 shots on goal to Army's 18 and enjoyed a 16-4 advantage in faceoff wins. That was more than enough to keep their win streak in the series going, and to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Princ- eton, another border rival that Penn State has rarely played, despite its proximity. — Matt Herb PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS