PHILADELPHIA – As usual, the University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team closes out the 2025 season on Saturday with a non-conference game. Not usual: this year that game is in South Bend against Notre Dame. Also not usual: the game will be televised to a national audience on ESPNU.
GAME 14 – PENN (4-9) at #6 NOTRE DAME (7-3)
Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 2 p.m. | South Bend, Ind.
Watch on ESPNU | Live Stats
The Series with Notre Dame
*Sixth meeting; ND leads 3-2; home team has won each of the first five games
March 4, 2000: at Penn 10, Notre Dame 7
March 4, 2001: at Notre Dame 10, Penn 8
March 2, 2002: at Penn 7, Notre Dame 6
March 1, 2003: at Notre Dame 14, Penn 5
May 14, 2011: at Notre Dame 13, Penn 6 (NCAA Championship first round)
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.
*Looking at this week's USILA coaches' poll, Penn has faced the current No. 1 (Cornell), 3 (Princeton), 8 (UNC), 9 (Duke), 12 (Harvard), 14 (Georgetown), 17 (Saint Joseph's) and 19 (Villanova) teams in the country, with No. 6 Notre Dame becoming the ninth team in the group on Saturday.
We're Going Streaking!
GOAL STREAKS: Smith 3, Provost 2
POINT STREAKS: Walsh 5, Smith 3, Provost 2
MULTI-POINT STREAKS: Provost 2
Scoring From the Long Poles in 2025
LONG POLE GOALS: Kuehl (at Delaware), Lavelle (Villanova)
LONG POLE ASSISTS: Lavelle (at Delaware)
SportsCenter Top 10
Lavelle's goal on March 8 against Villanova—a 90-yard shot that found the back of the net in the air—not only was the Quakers' second long-pole goal this season, it also was the top play on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays" on Sunday morning.
Defense!
*Defense has long been a calling card at Penn under head coach
Mike Murphy, and Lavelle and his fellow members on this year's defensive unit have only enhanced that reputation. The Quakers have held an opposing offense scoreless for more than 12 minutes on 13 different occasions so far this season (failing to do so in just three games, on February 28 at UNC and in Ivy play against Yale and Harvard). A breakdown…
AT GEORGETOWN: 18:11 and 14:47
UALBANY: 14:22 and 15:53
AT DELAWARE: 35:13 and 23:46
AT DUKE: 12:53
VILLANOVA: 32:52
BROWN: 20:52
SAINT JOSEPH'S: 17:56
DARTMOUTH: 27:42
CORNELL 18:26
PRINCETON 14:56
*In addition, the Quakers have posted five shutout quarters this season: the first and second quarters at Delaware, the first and second quarters vs. Villanova, and the third quarter last Saturday against Dartmouth.
Trio Earns IL Midseason All-America Recognition
Inside Lacrosse posted its Midseason All-America teams on March 27 and the Quakers had three players who received honorable mention recognition: senior goalie
Emmet Carroll, senior defenseman
Brendan Lavelle, and sophomore SSDM
Anthony McMullan.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn spent the first six weeks in all three national polls—USILA, Inside Lacrosse, and USA Lacrosse Magazine—but fell out four weeks ago and haven't been able to get back in.
*A positive development from the last four weeks has been the continued emergence of senior
Tynan Walsh. A Preseason All-America selection by USA Lacrosse Magazine, Walsh missed seven of the first nine games due to injury—and was limited to EMO duty in the other two—but saw regular action the last three weeks and put a combined 11 points on the board (2g/1a at Cornell, 1g/4a vs. Yale, 1g/1a at Harvard, 1a vs. Princeton).
*Walsh is closing in on 100 career points; he enters Saturday's contest with the Irish at 99 (47g/52a). He would join fellow seniors
Ben Smith and
Cam Rubin at the century mark, as both Smith and Rubin surpassed the 100-point mark during the UAlbany win on February 18. Smith enters Saturday's game at 124 career points (94g/30a) while Rubin has 118 (94g/24a).
*Sophomore
Davis Provost was Penn's leading scorer last Saturday against Princeton, scoring twice and adding an assist for his third three-point game this season and eighth multi-point performance.
Griffin Scane added a pair of goals—his sixth multi-goal game of 2025—and sophomore
Leo Hoffman had two points (1g/1a) for his fifth multi-point game this season.
*Smith was the Quakers' only multi-goal scorer two weeks ago at Harvard, with two goals, while four others players recorded a goal and an assist for two-point games: Walsh, senior
Casey Mulligan, and sophomores Provost and
Chris Patterson.
*Scane scored five times on April 5 against Yale, matching a career high set earlier in the season, while junior
Travis Smith—who entered the contest with one career point—had his first multi-point game as a collegian with a goal and an assist.
*
Ben Smith (no relation to Travis) scored three times against the Bulldogs, giving him four hat tricks this season with two of them coming in Ivy play (also March 15 vs. Brown).
*Provost led the attack against Dartmouth on March 22, with three goals, while Hoffman had a goal and dished out three assists for a four-goal game. Of note, Scane was held without a point, snapping a streak of 16 straight games in which he recorded a point dating back to last season.
*The offense also was bolstered by Walsh's return against the Big Green; the senior attackman was limited primarily to the Quakers' EMO, scoring once and dishing off an assist on two of their extra-man opportunities against the Big Green.
*Smith scored four goals against the Hawks, giving him seven across the last two games, while Rubin—who was held scoreless against Brown—went for a hat trick. Patterson finished the game with four points (2g/2a) and Provost added a goal and an assist.
*Smith scored a natural hat trick against Bruno on March 15, turning a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 lead that the Quakers never relinquished.
Griffin Scane and Provost scored two goals each while
Nate Lucchesi dished out two assists and Patterson added a goal and an assist.
*At the other end, senior All-America
Emmet Carroll had 15 saves against the Bears for a .652 save percentage, his fourth time in seven games this season above .600 in that category. That Monday, Carroll earned his second Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season.
*Scane scored a career-high five goals to lead the attack March 8 against Villanova, while Rubin scored twice. Smith dished out three assists while Hoffman had two. At the other end, Carroll made 14 saves (.636 save percentage) and the defense shut out VU through the first half (taking a 6-0 lead to the locker room).
*The weekend before that, Penn was on Tobacco Road and fell to then-No. 4 North Carolina (16-8) and No. 5 Duke (11-6). One of the highlights from the weekend was Carroll, who had 13 saves in the loss to the Blue Devils which included his 500th wearing the Red and Blue uniform. He became the first goalie to reach the milestone since Reed Junkin (647 from 2016-19).
*Rubin led Penn in both games in Carolina, with four goals against the Tar Heels and two more against Duke.
*In a 10-2 win at then-No. 17 Delaware on February 22, Carroll posted 14 saves and allowed just one goal (.933 save percentage) as the Quakers gave up the fewest goals in a game since an 11-2 win over Dartmouth on April 20, 2013. Not surprisingly, he was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Brown goalie Connor Foley.
*Offensively, Penn had eight different goal scorers and 10 different players who recorded at least a point against the Hens. Provost and Patterson both had two-goal, one-assist performances to lead the attack. Scane was the only other multi-point player for the Quakers, with a goal and an assist, and he is the only player so far this season with multiple points in every game so far.
*In the win over the UAlbany on February 18, the Quakers never trailed in the game and used a 6-1 run after the Danes got within 5-4 midway through the second quarter to cruise to victory.
*Patterson and Smith led the attack against UA, both finishing with five points as Patterson scored a game-high four goals and Smith recorded a hat trick and dished out two assists. For Patterson, they were his first collegiate points.
*Scane also had a hat trick, while Rubin had two goals and an assist. Provost had his first multi-point game of the season and fourth at Penn, with a goal and an assist.
*Another sophomore who scored his first collegiate goal in the UAlbany game was
Jacob Pacheco.
*Rubin led the attack in the season opener at Georgetown on February 15, with a goal and two assists, while Scane was the Quakers' only multi-goal scorer. The other goal scorers were Hoffman, Provost and 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).
*Now in his 16th season as Penn's head coach, Murphy is the program's all-time winningest coach with 109 (44 in Ivy League play).
*On the field, all eyes this season have been 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.
*Carroll, Lavelle and Walsh are this season's captains.
For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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