SELINSGROVE, PA - The Susquehanna University men's lacrosse season began Saturday playing host to local foe Penn College. In what is starting to become an interesting non-conference rivalry, both teams brought their artillery and it would be the Wildcats that pulled out a 16-15 win.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
- The River Hawks, who turned in one of the highest-scoring seasons in program history in 2025, picked up where they left off by scoring the first three goals of the game from Tyler Young, Quin Michaels and Matt Chubenko.
- A series of Susquehanna penalties, however, gave the Wildcats an opening and a grip on the game. The visitors scored five of the next six goals, with three from Owen Kupsey in this stretch and the rest from Elliot Dotson and Aidan McFalls to lead 5-4 after the first quarter.
- Susquehanna tilted the games back in its favor to open the second, scoring four straight to lead 8-5. The first two scores came from Reese Ackerman, while Drew Filipotivs and Young added the rest.
- Chubenko added another Susquehanna goal before halftime, though the Wildcats got two back from Kupsey and McFalls scores as the halftime score read 9-7 in favor of the River Hawks.
- Penn College tied the game to open the second half as McFalls and Kupsey scored once again to make it 9-9.
- The River Hawks reciprocated with two straight of their own from Chubenko and Remund to get the lead back up to two at 11-9.
- Both sides exchanged scores, with Gabe Broome earning his first goal of the year to put Susquehanna back to two-up at 12-10.
- Another Susquehanna penalty led to the Wildcats' next score as Kupsey delievered a score from McFalls as the score was 12-11 Susquehanna going into the fourth.
- The fourth quarter was up for grabs as eight goals were scored in the final 15 minutes. Penn College was responsible for the first two as McFalls and Dotson continued their great shooting work to give the away team a 13-12 lead.
- Michaels responded with a game-tying goal for Susquehanna with 10:55 to play in the game, but Penn College doubled down with two swift scores to go up 15-13. The first of these came from Ian Edinger, who got his name on the scoring list with essentially a coast-to-coast maneuver to singlehandedly clear the ball and offer a key go-ahead score, a lead Penn College would not relinquish.
- Dotson picked up his third goal of the contest and game-leading seventh point to lead 15-13.
- Kieran Koenke kept Susquehanna in the game with a reply, scoring off a Jimmy Maro assist to cut it down again to one goal at 15-14 with 8:43 remaining. But the Wildcats got a lift again from another new scorer, this time from Jesse Weick. After assisting the preceding Dotson score, he carried the team's next scorfe on his own for a 16-14 lead with seven minutes to go.
- Koenke again cut the lead in half from a Pat McDermott feed at 16-15.
- Penn College won the ensuing faceoff to help drain time off the clock. Tyler Young attempted a shot for Susquehanan on its next possession, but it was saved by Wildcats goalie Ryan Twist.
- After a few back-and-forth tries, a few costly turnovers gave the ball back to Penn College as the Wildcats hung on for the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Will Harcourt got the first start of his career for the River Hawks, netting nine saves before Jack Storipan took over in goal for the remaining nine minutes and change. Twist, meanwhile, gathered ten saves in a full 60 minutes in net.
- Susquehanna won 21 faceoffs to Penn College's 14. The Wildcats led 39-34 in shots, including 27-25 in shots on goal, and took advantage of 3-of-6 extra-man opportunities. The River Hawks took advantage of their lone extra-man chance in the third quarter when Chubenko scored to make it 10-9 Penn College.
- Ackerman and Koenke each led the team with four points on two goals and two assists each. Chubenko led with three goals, while McDermott led with three assists.
UP NEXT FOR THE RIVER HAWKS
- Susquehanna has one week to prepare for its next battle when the River Hawks host Arcadia on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.
