Army West Point Athletics

No. 12 Men’s Lacrosse Opens NCAA Tournament Action at No. 8 Penn State Saturday
May 08, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 12-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team embarks on its 19th NCAA tournament appearance in program history as it takes on the No. 8-ranked No. 8 seed Penn State in Pennsylvania on Saturday, May 9 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
LAST TIME OUT
A WIN WOULD
GAME NOTES
National Rankings: The Black Knights climbed a few spots in two national polls this week. Army ranked 12th on the USILA Week 13 Coaches' Poll and 11th on the Inside Lacrosse Nike Lacrosse Week 13 Media Poll. Army ranked 16th in the Week 12 USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll.
Patriot League Postseason Awards: For the third consecutive season, Army collected three of the Patriot League's major postseason awards. Evan Plunkett earned Offensive Player of the Year, John Sullivan earned Defensive Player of the Year, and Sean Byrne earned Goalkeeper of the Year. Keagan Treacy joined the trio on the First Team All-Patriot League while Hill Plunkett and Aiden Weisenborn represented Army on the Second Team All-Patriot League and Gunnar Fellows earned Patriot League All-Academic honors.
Scoring Surge: The Black Knights' sophomores and seniors have contributed a combined 299 of Army's total 335 points this season. The sophomores (a.k.a. yearlings or yuks) total a combined 153 while Army's seniors (a.k.a. firsties) are responsible for 146 of those points.
History in the Making: Seniors Evan Plunkett and Gunnar Fellows are steadily climbing Army's scoring records in their fourth season with the Black Knights. Plunkett stands eighth all-time with 186 total points while Fellows' 165 total points rank him 15th in program history.
National Leaderboard: Senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne currently leads the nation in save percentage (.613) and stands sixth in the nation in goals-against average (8.05). Byrne is four saves away from becoming just the fourth Army goalkeeper since 2000 to record at least 200 saves in a single season.
A Tip of the Hat: At least one Black Knight has scored a hat trick in 15 of Army's games this season with two hat tricks against Lafayette, Mercer, Michigan, Bucknell, Navy, and Colgate. Brayden Fountain leads the way with eight hat tricks. Fountain, Hill Plunkett, and Evan Plunkett all earned hat tricks against Navy.
Mid-season All-Americans: Seniors Evan Plunkett and Sean Byrne each earned recognition as Nike Lacrosse Media Mid-season All-Americans in April. Plunkett earned First Team honors while Byrne earned a spot on the Third Team.
Series History: Army currently holds a 29-4 record against the Nittany Lions, dating back to their first meeting in 1922 - a 15-1 win for Army. Army last faced Penn State in the NCAA tournament in 2023 - Army fell 10-9 to Penn State in the second round.
NOTABLE KNIGHTS
WHERE TO WATCH
Tickets are available for purchase here. Fans who cannot attend the game can follow the action on ESPNU beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live scoring updates will be available here.
LAST TIME OUT
- Army earned its 12th win over Loyola Maryland on Sunday with a 14-7 victory over the Greyhounds at Michie Stadium.
- Brayden Fountain (5g), Hill Plunkett (5a) and Evan Plunkett (1g, 4a) led the Black Knights' offense with five points each.
- Netminder Sean Byrne tallied 11 saves during his 56 minutes in goal while Evan Richardson logged three to lead the game with a combined 14 saves against the Greyhounds.
A WIN WOULD
- Give Army its 30th win over Penn State - Army last faced the Nittany Lions on May 21, 2023 in the NCAA Tournament.
- Give Army its sixth NCAA Tournament win in program history. Army earned its most recent win against Maryland in 2023 - a 16-15 win for the Black Knights.
- Set a new program record for the most wins in a single season in program history with 14 wins.
GAME NOTES
National Rankings: The Black Knights climbed a few spots in two national polls this week. Army ranked 12th on the USILA Week 13 Coaches' Poll and 11th on the Inside Lacrosse Nike Lacrosse Week 13 Media Poll. Army ranked 16th in the Week 12 USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll.
Patriot League Postseason Awards: For the third consecutive season, Army collected three of the Patriot League's major postseason awards. Evan Plunkett earned Offensive Player of the Year, John Sullivan earned Defensive Player of the Year, and Sean Byrne earned Goalkeeper of the Year. Keagan Treacy joined the trio on the First Team All-Patriot League while Hill Plunkett and Aiden Weisenborn represented Army on the Second Team All-Patriot League and Gunnar Fellows earned Patriot League All-Academic honors.
Scoring Surge: The Black Knights' sophomores and seniors have contributed a combined 299 of Army's total 335 points this season. The sophomores (a.k.a. yearlings or yuks) total a combined 153 while Army's seniors (a.k.a. firsties) are responsible for 146 of those points.
History in the Making: Seniors Evan Plunkett and Gunnar Fellows are steadily climbing Army's scoring records in their fourth season with the Black Knights. Plunkett stands eighth all-time with 186 total points while Fellows' 165 total points rank him 15th in program history.
National Leaderboard: Senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne currently leads the nation in save percentage (.613) and stands sixth in the nation in goals-against average (8.05). Byrne is four saves away from becoming just the fourth Army goalkeeper since 2000 to record at least 200 saves in a single season.
A Tip of the Hat: At least one Black Knight has scored a hat trick in 15 of Army's games this season with two hat tricks against Lafayette, Mercer, Michigan, Bucknell, Navy, and Colgate. Brayden Fountain leads the way with eight hat tricks. Fountain, Hill Plunkett, and Evan Plunkett all earned hat tricks against Navy.
Mid-season All-Americans: Seniors Evan Plunkett and Sean Byrne each earned recognition as Nike Lacrosse Media Mid-season All-Americans in April. Plunkett earned First Team honors while Byrne earned a spot on the Third Team.
Series History: Army currently holds a 29-4 record against the Nittany Lions, dating back to their first meeting in 1922 - a 15-1 win for Army. Army last faced Penn State in the NCAA tournament in 2023 - Army fell 10-9 to Penn State in the second round.
NOTABLE KNIGHTS
- Evan Plunkett (senior, midfielder) – Leads the team with 62 points (23 goals, 39 assists) this season. Among active NCAA DI players, stands tied for 16th in the nation in career points (186), fourth in career assists (99), and tied for 46th in career goals (86). Currently stands eighth among Army's all-time scoring leaders. Second-highest career point scorer for the Black Knights since John Glesener in 2015 (208) after Brendan Nichtern in 2022 (284). Highest scoring midfielder in Army program history.
- Gunnar Fellows (senior, attack) – Second on the team with 35 goals this season, adds 17 assists for a team-third 52 points this season. Among active NCAA DI players, stands tied for 12th in the nation in career goals (119) and 22nd in career points (165). Currently stands 15th among Army's all-time scoring leaders.
- Sean Byrne (senior, goalkeeper) –Leads the nation in save percentage (.613) and stands sixth in the nation in goals against average (8.05). Anchors an Army defense that ranks third in the nation in man-down defense (.868), fourth in the nation in scoring defense (8.38), and sixth in the nation in scoring margin (4.63).
- John Sullivan (senior, defense) – Leads the Black Knights with 20 caused turnovers this season. Adds 29 ground balls to his stat line to help Army lead its opponents with 137 caused turnovers to 112 and 489 ground balls to 427 over 16 games played.
- Keagan Treacy (senior, defensive midfielder) – Stands third on the team in caused turnovers with 13 and tallies 21 ground balls over the season. Helps run an Army midfield that holds its opponents to a .847 clear percentage and to a .132 extra-man percentage.
- Brayden Fountain (sophomore, attack) – Leads team in total goals this season (41) with 10 assists for a team-fourth 51 points as a sophomore. Tallies 102 career points to stand as the third highest career point scorer on Army's roster this season.
- Hill Plunkett (sophomore, attack) – Stands third on the team in goals scored with 29 and tallies 24 assists for a team-second 53 points this season since moving to attack. Totals 81 career points as a sophomore.
WHERE TO WATCH
Tickets are available for purchase here. Fans who cannot attend the game can follow the action on ESPNU beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live scoring updates will be available here.
Players Mentioned
Army vs. LIU Baseball Game Highlights
Thursday, April 30
Army vs. Lafayette Baseball Game 3 Highlights
Wednesday, April 29
Army Walk-off Homerun!
Wednesday, April 29
Army vs. Lafayette Baseball Senior Day Doubleheader Highlights
Tuesday, April 28















