No. 3 Princeton Falls To No. 14 Penn State In Opener

Saturday, February 14

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

1-0

Penn State

2-1

Penn State

Princeton

Peter Buonanno works against Penn State's Will Costin.

Photo by: Camryn Ley

No. 3 Princeton Falls To No. 14 Penn State In Opener

February 14, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

The Princeton men's lacrosse team opened its season Saturday afternoon against a Penn State team that was playing for the third time. Even worse for the Tigers, it was a Penn State team that had a week to sit on a loss in its second game.

Penn State, ranked 14th this week, exploded out of the gate in the first quarter en route to a 13-7 win over No. 3 Princeton in front of 1,326 at Sherrerd Field. The loss ended a streak of 13-straight season opening wins for Princeton, including a year ago in State College.

The final three quarters were an even matchup — after Penn State scored twice in the first two minutes and built a 7-1 lead after one. It was a combination of Princeton's first game, the fact that Penn State was smarting after its overtime loss to Villanova last week and a great first 15 minutes of offense by a Nittany Lion team that dominated possession.

After that it was a 6-6 game, The Tigers trailed 10-3 at one point before a four-goal run late in the third and early in the fourth cut it to 10-7 and gave the Tigers hope, before Penn State was able to stop the run with the final three of the day.

Palumbo on the man-up ? pic.twitter.com/gNs0KrBXYF
— Princeton Men's Lacrosse (@TigerLacrosse) February 14, 2026

Nate Kabiri had two goals and an assist, and Tucker Wade had two goals of his own. Chad Palumbo, Colin Burns and Peter Buonanno each had a goal and assist.

Princeton's defense caused 14 turnovers, led by three from Finn Fox and two each from Cooper Mueller and Hunter Spiess.

Next up for Princeton is a trip to Maryland, who was ranked No. 1 this week before falling Friday night to No. 2 Syracuse — who will be the Tiger opponent after the Terrapins.