Penn State lacrosse to face No.1 Princeton in NCAA quarterfinals

Penn State lacrosse is on to the quarterfinal round in the NCAA tournament, and the Nittany Lions are gearing up for a rematch with the tournament's top seed. Penn State will face Princeton, the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament, on Sunday afternoon in Newark, Delaware.

Penn State advanced to the quarterfinal round after pulling away for a win at home on Saturday afternoon against Army, the champions of the Patriot League. The following day, Princeton advanced past Marist in their first-round matchup at home in New Jersey, doing so with a 17-6 victory.

Bought another week. pic.twitter.com/TXO1D0hv0P— Penn State Men’s Lacrosse (@PennStateMLAX) May 10, 2026

Penn State came away with a 13-7 victory on Princeton's home field back in the early stages of the season. Penn State defeated the then-No. 3 Princeton squad thanks to a fast start. Penn State outscored Princeton 7-1 in the 1st perdiod and the teams had even goal counts in each of the three remaining periods as Penn State kept Princeton at arm's length. The Tigers have lost just once since that matchup, and the Tigers will very likely be fueled for some revenge with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

THE TIGERS TROUNCE MARIST 🐅💥

Nate Kabiri (3G, 5A) and Chad Palumbo (6G, 1A) combined for 15 points while Ryan Croddick made 14 saves to lead No. 1 seed @TigerLacrosse to the quarterfinals. They'll play Penn State next Sunday. pic.twitter.com/r75B9vWGX9— TLN 🥍 (@LacrosseNetwork) May 10, 2026

The first round of the NCAA tournament did see a few seeded teams taken out. Big Ten runners-up Johns Hopkins eliminated No. 7 seed Cornell with an overtime victory. Johns Hopkins will face No. 2 seed Notre Dame in their quarterfinal matchup this weekend. No. 5 seed Virginia, the host school for this year's semifinals and championship rounds, was eliminated by Georgetown in the upset of the first round. Georgetown will face Duke, who took out No. 4 seed Richmond in the first round.

If Penn State can get by Princeton for a second time this season, a potential rematch of the 2023 NCAA semifinal round with Duke could be in the making. Penn State lost to Duke in controversial fashion, missing out on a shot at the first national title in program history.

Check out the full and updated NCAA men's lacrosse tournament schedule and matchups.

Kevin McGuire is the lead writer for Nittany Lions Wire, part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on BlueSky, Threads or any of these other platforms.

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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Updated NCAA lacrosse tournament info as Penn State advances