PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team plays its home opener on Tuesday afternoon, hosting the University at Albany in a 3 p.m. faceoff at Franklin Field. Please note, this is a venue change from the original schedule which had this game being played at Staples High School in Westport, Conn.
 
GAME 2 – #16 PENN (0-1) vs. UALBANY (0-1)
Tuesday, Feb. 18 | 3 p.m. | Franklin Field
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
 
Ivy League on ESPN
A reminder that the Ivy League is paired with ESPN and you will be able to find all Penn home games, as well as road Ivy games and select non-conference road games, on ESPN+ this spring with the same high broadcast quality you've come to expect. ESPN+ is a subscription-based service that offers monthly and yearly packages. Click here to subscribe to ESPN+!
 
The Series with UAlbany
The Quakers and Great Danes are meeting for the fourth straight season, with Penn victorious in each of the first three. Last year, Penn earned an 11-7 victory here at Franklin Field after winning twice at UAlbany, 19-11 in 2022 and 14-11 in 2023.
 
In last year's game, Ben Smith led the Penn attack with four goals and an assist, while Tynan Walsh finished with two goals and two assists and Leo Hoffman dished off two assists. UAlbany outshot the Quakers 45-29 in the contest, but Emmet Carroll had 17 saves to put the Red and Blue on top.
 
Strong Schedule…Again!
Penn head coach Mike Murphy has long been known for his strength of schedule, but he might have outdone himself in 2025. The Quakers' 14-game regular-season schedule features eight games against teams that were ranked in the USILA Preseason Top 20—five of them against Top 10 teams and three against the preseason Top 4—with four others against teams in the "receiving votes" section.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Despite a season-opening, 8-6 loss at current USILA No. 11 Georgetown on Saturday, Penn remains ranked in all three national polls this week: 15th by USA Lacrosse Magazine, 16th by the USILA, and 17th by Inside Lacrosse.
 
*Senior Cam Rubin led the attack in Saturday's game in D.C., with a goal and two assists, while junior Griffin Scane was the Quakers' only multi-goal scorer. The other goal scorers were Hoffman, Davis Provost and Nate Lucchesi (the freshman netting his first collegiate tally).
 
*At the other end, Carroll finished with 13 saves and the Penn defense forced Georgetown into six shot-clock violations among its 14 turnovers.
 
*The Red and Blue were picked fourth in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, which was announced on February 7. Penn got 57 voting points and were behind Cornell (90 points/9 first-place votes), Princeton (87/4) and Yale (71/1). The Quakers were voted ahead of Harvard (45), Brown (27) and Dartmouth (15).
 
*Entering his 16th season as head coach, Murphy is the program's all-time winningest coach with 105 victories ahead of the 2025 campaign.
 
*On the field, all eyes will be on a pair of fifth-year seniors for the Quakers: goalie Emmet Carroll and defenseman Brendan Lavelle.
 
*Carroll's preseason honors: Consensus first-team All-America (USILA, Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse Magazine); Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List; Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year by USA Lax Mag; #4 on the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Top 50.
 
*Lavelle's preseason honors: Consensus first-team All-America (USILA, Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse Magazine); Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List; Preseason Defenseman of the Year by USA Lax Mag; #10 on the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Top 50.
 
*Carroll in 2024: Consensus second-team All-America, Tewaaraton Award nominee and first-team All-Ivy selection. Finished with a .594 save percentage—leading the nation in that category—and posted a 10.82 goals-against average. That included his scintillating performance in the Ivy League Tournament, where Carroll came up with a career-high 19 saves in a semifinal win over Cornell and followed it up with another career high (20) in the final against Princeton.
 
*Lavelle in 2024: Consensus first-team All-America and unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection. His most noteworthy performance last year came against No. 1 Duke, when he totaled six ground balls and two caused turnovers and held reigning Tewaaraton Award winner Brennan O'Neill to just one goal on eight shots as Penn handed the top-ranked Blue Devils their first loss of the year.
 
*Coincidentally, both Carroll and Lavelle changed their numbers from last year, Carroll from 22 to 19 and Lavelle from 46 to 41. Both numbers hold significant prestige and responsibility in the Penn program:
- 19 was the number worn by the late James Farrell C'18, captain of Penn's 2018 team who was killed in July 2021 when an Uber he was riding in was struck head-on by a drunk driver in an accident that claimed five lives.
- In the Murphy era, 41 has become the number worn annually by the player viewed as the leader of the defensive unit.
- In both cases, the numbers are "legacy" numbers passed down by the previous season's wearer—in this case, James Shipley (last year's #19) and Peter Blake (last year's #41).
 
*Other players who received preseason honors ahead of the 2025 campaign include attackmen Cam Rubin and Tynan Walsh, who got Preseason All-America honorable mention recognition from USA Lax Mag; and sophomore Anthony McMullan, who received Preseason All-America honorable mention from Inside Lacrosse.
 
*Penn returns four All-Ivy players from a year ago: Carroll, Lavelle and Rubin were first-team All-Ivy selections while senior Ethan Till was a second-team All-Ivy pick by the Ancient Eight coaches.
 
*Among the newcomers, five of them earned a spot on the Inside Lacrosse Power 100 freshmen rankings during the fall: defenseman Dante Vardaro was ranked 25th, midfielder Paul vanBastelaar was 28th, FOGO Stevie Davis was 41st, defenseman Matt Wills was 48th, and attacker/midfielder Nate Lucchesi was 91st.
 
*Penn has two players who could hit 100 career points on Tuesday, as Smith (74g/25a) and Rubin (78g/21a) enter the UAlbany contest with 99 each. Walsh—who missed Saturday's game due to injury—is also on track to reach the milestone, entering the season with 86 career points (42g/44a).
 
*Carroll, Lavelle and Walsh will serve as this season's captains.
 
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