PENN STATE at YALE
Sat., Feb. 25 – Noon
Reese Stadium
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's lacrosse team sure looked strong in Sunday's season opener, knocking off Villanova 20-14 in Philadelphia. On Saturday, the Bulldogs will get their first chance to impress the home fans when Penn State visits Reese Stadium in a noon start.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
 
*  Yale remains at No. 5 in the Inside Lacrosse national poll. The Ivy League has three of the top five teams in the poll as Princeton checks in at No. 3 and Cornell is No. 4. In the USILA Coaches Poll, the Bulldogs are No. 7.
 
*  It was quite a season debut for Chris Lyons, who scored nine goals in Yale's win at Villanova, the most by a sophomore in school history and just one shy of the overall school record set by Jon Reese against Army in 1990. Lyons was named the Ivy League Player of the Week and also earned player of the week honors from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine.
 
* The 20 goals were the most in a season opener for the Bulldogs since a 21-2 win over CCNY in 1953.
 
*  Matt Brandau scored four goals and added three assists in the win over the Wildcats. He has now scored at least one goal in all 41 games he has played at Yale, the longest active streak in the nation. Brandau's 196 career points are the fourth most all-time at Yale. He is fifth all time with 121 career goals and 10th with 75 career assists.
 
*  Goalie Jared Paquette made 18 saves in the season opener at Villanova and was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll.
 
* The Bulldogs have won 15 straight games at Reese. Their last home loss came to Villanova, 17-16, in the 2019 home opener.
 
*  The Bulldogs were selected as the top team in New England in the NEILA preseason poll. UMass was second followed by Boston University and Harvard, who tied for third. Yale received five of the seven first-place votes.
 
*  Last year in State College, the Nittany Lions outscored Yale 5-1 in the second half to earn a 10-6 victory. Brandau, Leo Johnson and Kyle Zawadzki each had a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs. Yale has won four of five meetings with Penn State overall.
 
SCOUTING PENN STATE
 
The Nittany Lions are playing their fourth game of the season. Penn State opened with 21-11 win over Lafayette on Feb. 4, fell to Villanova 14-12 on Feb. 12 and beat Stony Brook 17-12 last Saturday. TJ Malone leads PSU in goals (9) and points (14). Chris Jordan and Matt Traynor each have eight goals. Hudson Bohn has won 34-of-63 faceoffs. The Nittany Lions were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten preseason poll.