Penn State Nittany Lions men's lacrosse


The Penn State Nittany Lions men's lacrosse team represents Penn State in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college lacrosse.

History

Penn State's lacrosse program started at the varsity level in 1921. The current coach is Jeff Tambroni in his fifth year at that position, who was hired after a successful run as head coach at Cornell, including coaching Cornell to a close loss in the 2009 NCAA finals.
Penn State has made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, with the first coming in 2003. The Nittany Lions made the tournament in 2013 as the number eight seed, the first time they achieved a seeding in the NCAAs, losing to Yale 13–10. Also in 2013, Austin Kaut was named the first Penn State NCAA Division I goaltender of the year.
There are two Nittany Lions in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Glenn "Nick" Thiel, who was instrumental in making lacrosse at Penn State a viable sport, and Tom Hayes, an All-American player and later long time coach at Drexel and Rutgers.
National Football League wide receiver Chris Hogan was a standout lacrosse player for Penn State from 2008 to 2010.
Penn State was an independent from 1913 through 1999 and joined the ECAC conference in 2000. Penn State left the ECAC following the 2009 season to join the CAA Conference in 2010. Penn State left the CAA in 2014 to join the newly formed Big Ten Conference starting in 2015.
Penn State has played Rutgers more than any other school and since 1998, Penn State and Rutgers have played annually for the Friendship Cup. Penn State leads the series 11 wins to 5 as of 2016.
When Michigan began Division I lacrosse play in 2012, the only Big Ten schools at the time began playing annually for the Creator’s Trophy. The tradition continues today among the three original members. Penn State claimed the Creator's Trophy in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017.

Season Results

The following is a list of Penn State's results by season as a NCAA Division I program: