PHILADELPHIA – The 15th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team is back at home for the final time this regular season, hosting defending NCAA champion Cornell on Saturday afternoon. The game—which is the 100th meeting between the Quakers and the Big Red—is the back end of an Alumni Day doubleheader with the Red and Blue women's team, which hosts Harvard in the opener at noon.
 
Saturday's game also will be Senior Day for the men, as the program will celebrate the graduating seniors ahead of their final home game. The senior ceremony will take place approximately a half-hour before opening faceoff on Saturday, at 3 p.m.
 
In addition to airing on ESPN+, Saturday's game against the 12th-ranked Big Red can be viewed live in the Philadelphia region on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
 
GAME 10 – #15 PENN (5-4, 2-1 Ivy League) vs. #12 CORNELL (5-3, 2-1)
Saturday, April 4, 2026 | 3:30 p.m. | Franklin Field
Watch on ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats | Program (PDF)
 
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 Cornell
*100th meeting in a series that started in 1901; Cornell leads the series, 67-29-3.
 
*The Quakers have had great success against the Big Red in recent years, going 7-4 in the last 11 meetings including wins in two of the last three games, four of the last six, and six of the last nine.
 
*That said, Cornell was victorious in last year's game up in Ithaca, rolling to a 15-5 decision on the way to the NCAA championship.
 
*Penn beat the Big Red twice in 2024, winning 11-10 in double overtime at Franklin Field during the regular season and then 13-9 in an Ivy League Tournament semifinal at Schoellkopf Field that season.
 
Strong Schedule…Again!
Although it's a new head coach (Taylor Wray), Penn's tradition of strong scheduling continues. Coach Wray and his staff have set up a 13-game slate that features seven games against teams that were in the Inside Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 poll—including five of the top six teams—and four more against teams in the "also receiving votes" section. (The Red and Blue also was listed among IL's teams receiving votes.) On the 2026 Penn men's lacrosse ledger…
  #2 Princeton (4/11)
  #3 Syracuse (3/1)
  #4 Cornell (4/4)
  #5 Georgetown (2/14)
  #6 North Carolina (2/27)
  #13 Harvard (3/14)
  #19 UAlbany (2/17)
  RV Dartmouth (3/28)
  RV Delaware (2/21)
  RV Villanova (3/8)
  RV Yale (3/21)
 
Road Warriors
*After starting the season with five of its first seven games at home, Penn is playing five of its last six contests away from Franklin Field.
 
*Penn had more home games in February (4) than it does in March and April combined (2). We're taking some liberties here; the fourth home game was really March 1, but we counted it as February since it happened on a weekend that also included February dates.
 
A Stirring Comeback
Penn is coming off one of the most improbable wins in program history last Saturday at Dartmouth. With less than four minutes left in the third quarter, the Quakers were down 14-6 to the Big Green and had scored just one goal across the previous 26:56. However, the Red and Blue roared to life at that point, scoring three unanswered goals in the final 3:36 of the period and then outscoring their hosts 7-0 in the fourth for a 16-14 victory.
 
Midseason/Preseason All-America Recognitions
Junior SSDM Anthony McMullan received Preseason All-America honorable mention recognition from Inside Lacrosse for the second straight year, then received honorable mention recognition when IL announced its Midseason All-America teams on Friday, April 3.
 
Senior middie Griffin Scane received honorable mention recognition by both USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse when they announced their Preseason All-America teams.
 
2026 Quaker Notemeal
*Junior Davis Provost leads the Quakers in goals (26), points (31), and shots on goal (51); he has hit for multiple points in eight of Penn's first nine games—hitting multiple goals seven times—including four goals last Saturday at Dartmouth.
 
*Scane is second on the team with 19 goals this season, hitting for multiple goals in each of the first four games—including four-goal efforts against UAlbany and North Carolina—and two more times so far in Ivy League play (2 each vs. Harvard and Dartmouth).
 
*Freshman Jackson Maher continues to lead Penn in assists, with 13, and is second with 24 points. He has gone for multiple points in all three Ivy games—1g/1a vs. Harvard, 1g/2a at both Yale and Dartmouth—and seven times overall this season.
 
*Junior Ben Beacham missed the Villanova game but has come back with seven points in the three Ivy games since then with two goals vs. Harvard, a goal and an assist at Yale, and his first collegiate hat trick last Saturday at Dartmouth; he has six multi-point games this season.
 
*Sophomore Nate Lucchesi has seven points so far in Ivy play, sandwiching a pair of two-goal, one-assist performances against Harvard and Dartmouth around a two-point game at Yale (1g/1a); overall, he has eight goals and eight assists for his 16 points.
 
*Junior Grayson McClements has scored a goal in all three Ivy games after going for three points at Villanova (2g/1a); he is the sixth Penn player to reach double digits in the points column, with 10 (7g/3a).
 
*Sophomore defenseman Dante Vardaro is typically assigned the top offensive threat, and leads the Quakers with ten caused turnovers; however, he added an offensive element to his repertoire against Villanova with a goal and an assist (the goal coming in spectacular fashion, the long pole converting on a behind-the-back effort.)
 
*Overall, Penn has had 14 different goal scorers this season (including 11 with multiple goals) and 11 players who have dished out an assist.
 
*Senior Mac Eldridge leads Penn's strong face-off group; collectively, they are winning draws at a .608 rate this season (132-217) and went 20-5 in the Ivy opener vs. Harvard. Eldridge is 70-45 (.609) while fellow senior Ethan Costanzo is 25-17 (.595) and freshman Quinn Ball is 33-19 (.635) including a 16-3 mark against the Crimson.
 
*Sophomore Jack Pelot has started in goal for all nine games this season and boasts a .511 save percentage. Last Saturday at Dartmouth, however, he was replaced by Declan Monahan for the fourth quarter and the junior stopped all three shots he faced to help spur Penn's comeback.
 
*Eldridge, Scane, Ryan McLaughlin and Jacob Pacheco are this year's captains.
 
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