Penn State falls short in overtime battle to Duke in NCAA lacrosse semifinals

As Duke’s game-winning goal in overtime against Penn State played over and over on the scoreboard at Lincoln Financial Field, the booing got louder and louder.

With each replay, it became more apparent that Garrett Leadmon had scored from the crease. The scoreboard might have proclaimed Duke the home team, but the crowd, as it voiced its displeasure, said otherwise.

But the officials on the field said it was a goal and, as NCAA men’s lacrosse rules state, a goal can’t be reviewed to see if the player was in the crease. And so No. 5 Penn State’s season ended with a 16-15 loss to No. 1 Duke in the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Final Four. Notre Dame beat Virginia, 13-12, also in overtime, in the other semifinal. The Blue Devils and Fighting Irish will play at 1 p.m. Monday at the Linc for the national championship.

It was Penn State’s second Final Four appearance. The fifth-year players who were there for the last one in 2019 wanted to leave the program better than they found it. Despite losing again in the semifinals, they feel they did that. They played a much more competitive game than their 21-17 loss to Yale in 2019, and they established a culture for future success with their approach to a game heavily weighted in their opponent’s favor.

“[It’s] challenging to articulate how much I care about this group,” coach Jeff Tambroni said with tears in his eyes. “They’ve been through a lot. It’s tough. It’s been tough to watch them at their darkest moments.”

The Blue Devils came into the season ranked No. 7, while the Lions weren’t in the top 20 following their 3-11 season last year. Additionally, Penn State’s roster was thinned by injuries, most notably standout defenseman Jack Posey.

In the 2019 Final Four game, Yale jumped to a 10-1 lead. Saturday, Duke scored first on Dyson Williams’ 58th goal of the season. But Penn State tied it a minute later on an Ethan Long goal.

From there, the teams traded goals, neither allowing the other to build a lead bigger than two through the first quarter. But a Brennan Williams’ hat trick helped Duke extend its lead to three in the second. West Chester product TJ Malone, who was the game’s leading scorer with six goals and two assists, got Penn State back within two before halftime.

Down two late in the third quarter, the Lions’ Malone stepped up again, scoring a goal with 35 seconds remaining to close the gap to 13-12 heading into the final frame. Malone then set up Jake Morin’s tying goal with less than half a quarter to go.

With two minutes left, the game was tied, and Penn State had the ball. Duke’s Jake Caputo was called for pushing, giving Penn State an extra man for 30 seconds. However, they didn’t capitalize and turned over possession with under 20 seconds left. Duke failed to score, sending it to overtime.

Penn State lost yet another faceoff (it went 13-for-35), giving Duke possession in overtime, and Leadmon scored the game-winning goal that put Duke into the final.

“They (Penn State) were just terrific,” Duke coach John Danowski said. “I can’t imagine the hurt that they’re feeling right now relative to our exhilaration.”

And there certainly was pain, evidenced by the tears and the frustrated screams from the Penn State locker room, but there was also pride in their performance and accomplishment.

“I just expressed to these guys is that there’s just no regret,” Tambroni said. “I couldn’t see a guy on the field that just didn’t play as hard as he possibly could or love his teammates the way these guys did today. They’ve left a terrific legacy behind and one that now is upon our staff and team to just continue to keep following.”

» READ MORE: TJ Malone walked hills and valleys to get Penn State back to the NCAA lacrosse semifinals

One close game bled into another as Virginia and Notre Dame took each other to overtime to see who would play Duke.

The Fighting Irish jumped to a quick 2-0 lead, only to give up three goals to the Cavaliers. By halftime, they were tied at six.

In the third period, both Notre Dame’s Eric Dobson and Virginia’s Connor Shellenberger notched hat tricks, keeping the game close. Virginia goalie Matthew Nunes made a big save in the final minutes of the third to give his team a 9-8 lead heading into the fourth.

Nunes stood strong through both major and minor Virginia penalties, allowing his team to extend its lead to two. But in the space of 29 seconds, Dobson set up a Notre Dame goal and scored another to tie the game, 11-11, going into the final two minutes.

With both teams scoring in the final minute, it came down to the final faceoff. They fought so long for possession, it went to overtime.

Notre Dame won the faceoff, called timeout, and set up the perfect play for a non-controversial game-winning goal, scored by Brian Tevlin.

Officially, Drexel was the host of the Final Four, but none of the Philadelphia universities’ teams played. Even so, the city was well-represented by the players.

Malone, who went to the Haverford School, scored a hat trick for the Nittany Lions by the third period en route to his six goals and two assists. Other contributors for Penn State included brothers Matt and Jack Traynor, who hail from Downingtown, who scored one and two goals, respectively; Haverford’s Mac Costin, who had a goal and two assists; and Philadelphia-native Jeb Brenfleck, who scored the game’s first extra-man goal.

Duke had the least representation with just two players from the region while Virginia and Notre Dame had four players each. All in all, there were 26 players from the region across the two Final Four games.