HANOVER, N.H. – The 16th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team pulled off a comeback for the ages on Saturday. Down, 14-6, with less than four minutes left in the third quarter, the Quakers erupted with the game's final ten goals and escaped Scully-Fahey Field with a 16-14 win over Dartmouth.
Penn (5-4, 2-1 Ivy League) weathered a four-goal punch by the Big Green in the first quarter. However, it appeared the hosts had thrown the haymaker—a 9-1 run spanning the second and third periods—as the third quarter neared its end. However, the Red and Blue got three goals back in the final 3:36 of the period, then scored seven unanswered goals in the fourth in gaining the important Ivy League victory.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn outshot Dartmouth, 38-32, and went 19-15 on the faceoff X.
*Here's your crazy stat of this crazy game: Penn was truly famine then feast on Saturday, scoring just once over a span of 26:56 from the first quarter to the third before scoring ten goals in the game's final 18:36.
*Junior
Davis Provost once again led the offense, scoring four goals and adding an assist for five points which ties his season/career high.
*Junior
Ben Beacham registered a hat trick on Saturday, his first at Penn. His second goal started Penn's final 10-0 run.
*
Griffin Scane and
Nate Lucchesi both finished the day with two goals and an assist for three points, while freshman
Jackson Maher had a goal and two assists for his three points.
*
Quinn Langton,
Grayson McClements,
Travis Smith and
Pearse MacDonald were Penn's other goal scorers on Saturday.
*
Jack Pelot started Saturday's game in goal, but
Declan Monahan came on after three quarters and made three saves without allowing a goal to aid Penn's comeback efforts.
*Alex Jessey finished the day with six points to lead Dartmouth (3g/3a), while Stu Gates and Thomas Power scored three goals each. Emmett Paradine had a four-point day (2g/2a) and William Stahl also scored twice.
How It Happened
Dartmouth got out quickly on Saturday, scoring four times in the game's first 4:07. Provost finally got the Quakers on the board a minute after the Big Green's fourth goal, then converted a run-and-shoot up top two minutes later. That halved the lead, and then Scane and Langton netted efforts about three minutes apart to tie things at 4-4. Dartmouth answered Langton's goal to go back in front, but a nice pass by Scane through the Big Green defense found Beacham's stick and the junior rifled it home in the final minute. The score was 5-5 after one.
The second quarter was all Dartmouth, as the Big Green scored all four goals in the period. It was more of the same to start the third, the hosts scoring just 27 seconds in and then answering a Lucchesi goal—Penn's first in 17:53 of game time—with two goals in an 11-second span and two more after that. When Jessey scored off a Nick Moore feed with 4:21 left in the period, Dartmouth's lead was 14-6 and this game seemed all but over.
Penn was staggered at that point but was able to find a corner before the ten-count arrived. Beacham started things innocently enough, coming around a screen and sniping a corner from up top with 3:36 left in the period (just Penn's second goal in 26:57 of game time). The Quakers got their only man-up opportunity of the day shortly after that, as Smith was in the right place at the right time to snare the rebound of a saved Provost shot. His putback made it 14-8, and less than 40 seconds later McClements ran down the right alley and scored on the run. The quarter ended with the host Big Green up, 14-9, but the Quakers were alive.
The train never stopped rolling in the fourth.
While Monahan took over between the pipes, the resuscitated offense went to work quickly, Provost finishing a tic-tac-toe sequence across the top for his third goal of the day just 48 seconds in. A mere 1:21 later, Maher came around from behind the goal and bounced home a turnaround effort that got the margin to three. More than four minutes went off the clock after that goal—Monahan making his first save of the day in that time—and then Lucchesi set a screen up top for Provost, who threw it back to the sophomore for an open look that he converted. That made the scored 14-12.
Dartmouth won the ensuing faceoff, but Monahan stopped a Stahl shot and Penn got the clear. From there, Beacham found a seam in front and Maher hit him for still another long-range effort that made this a one-goal game with 7:05 to play. Less than two minutes later, MacDonald started almost near midfield and finished a bull rush along the left side with his only goal of the day. With 5:12 left, this game was tied.
Dartmouth changed goalies at that point, putting Kevin Bryan between the pipes, and the change had consequences. The Big Green was on a clear and Bryan took the ball all the way over midfield. His pass was mishandled, however, and the Quakers were off on a fast break with no one in the Dartmouth cage. Scane got the feed and finished past a helpless long pole, giving Penn its first lead of the day with 3:18 left.
Dartmouth had two chances to tie, but Jessey was high with a shot and then Power's close-range effort from the left side was thwarted by Monahan. The goalie then set Penn off on transition and Provost made it a two-goal game with just 43 seconds left. Dartmouth's final shot attempt was wide, and the Quakers were able to close it out.
Up Next
Penn plays its final home game of the 2026 season next Saturday, hosting defending NCAA champion Cornell at 3:30 p.m. It will be Alumni Day at Franklin Field, with the women hosting Harvard in the opener at noon.
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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