How Matt Traynor Brought Penn State Back to the Final Four

Every time Penn State senior attackman Matt Traynor steps on a lacrosse field to play the game he has revered for most of his life, he never fails to appreciate the chance to do it one more time.

For Traynor, who has led the Nittany Lions to their third NCAA final four weekend and their second in three seasons — top-seeded Cornell (16-1) awaits No. 4 Penn State on Saturday in a semifinal clash at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. — that sort of perspective was born of physical struggles that defined much of his high school sports experience.

After playing midfield for Malvern (Pa.) Prep School’s junior varsity as a freshman in 2018, the next three years yielded some hard life lessons for the then-teenager.

Traynor suffered a torn labrum in each shoulder, injuries requiring surgery that cut out most of his sophomore and senior seasons, although he did help Malvern Prep win the Inter-Ac title as a sophomore on varsity in 2019.

In between those two seasons, the emergence of the pandemic in March 2020 his junior year. His ailments also interfered with showcase events, where college recruiters gather each summer to observe the young talent.

As a result of his second labrum surgery and recovery, Traynor’s freshman year at Penn State was essentially a bust. He was unable to join his new teammates on the field during the fall season until mid-October 2021.

Traynor’s game-day on-field presence was scarce in 2022. He only participated in the season’s final two contests. He scored his first and only goal in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal loss at Johns Hopkins.

“Matty struggled with his injuries. It made him a tough teenager to deal with at times, but it all added to what he is now — a disciplined, focused, uber-talented guy who is always preaching about having fun playing this game,” said Jack Traynor, his older brother and former Penn State teammate. “And with what he’s been through, he really means it.”

“The more I sat out, the more I appreciated being back on the field, playing with my friends,” Matt Traynor said. “It was pretty much two years of watching lacrosse instead of playing it. Now, looking back, I think it was a blessing in disguise.”

The blessing of having a healthy Matt Traynor available for the past three seasons has produced some huge dividends for Penn State.

As a sophomore midfielder in 2023, Traynor caught fire. He took advantage of opposing defenses typically geared toward containing TJ Malone, a dynamic All-American attackman and one of the program’s all-time greats. Traynor, now listed at 6-foot-2, 193 pounds, brought plenty of athleticism and was bursting with developing offensive skills and creativity back then.

He feasted on his share of short-stick defensive midfielders and finished with an impressive 32 goals and 39 points in 16 games, an achievement that earned him USA Lacrosse third-team All-American honors.

Traynor shot 42 percent while recording nine multi-goal games, including five-goal showings against Lafayette and Yale and two goals against Duke in a heartbreaking overtime loss in the NCAA semifinals.

Last year, Traynor switched to attack, a position he had never played, and excelled with Malone in his fifth year. Penn State finished 11-5 with an NCAA first-round exit against Georgetown. Traynor started all 16 games and produced a career-high 45 goals and 52 points, which included 12 multi-goal games and a seven-goal explosion in a 20-9 rout over Cornell.

Somehow, he was only named to the All-Big Ten second team.

“TJ was without question the quarterback [last year]. Matt has had an assortment of roles here. This year, he needed the ball in his stick more to complement guys like [sophomore attackman Kyle] Lehman,” said Jeff Tambroni, Penn State’s 15th-year head coach. “The beauty of Matt’s game is he is such a utility player. He can play at attack or midfield, off-ball or with the ball. He has adapted to different roles each year, [based on] the needs of our team. That is a real compliment to Matt.”

It also explains in part why the New York Atlas selected Traynor recently in the first round, as the sixth overall pick in the Premier Lacrosse League draft. Twenty-one Penn State players have been drafted to play professional field lacrosse. Only all-time school goals (221) leader Mac O’Keefe has been drafted that high (also sixth).

Traynor currently ranks fourth in school history with 120 career goals. He missed two games in March with an upper-body injury — including a wild, come-from-behind 13-12 overtime win at Cornell.

He might be saving his best for last.

Coming into his final NCAA tournament, Penn State’s top scorer had produced 33 goals and 16 assists, had been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and would be named a second team All-American.

After his hat trick pushed the Nittany Lions to a first-round 13-11 victory over pesky Colgate, Traynor shined in crunch time in the NCAA quarterfinals Sunday in Annapolis, Md.

Penn State eliminated two-time defending national champion Notre Dame with a dramatic 14-12 comeback victory over the Fighting Irish.

Trailing Notre Dame 12-6 late in the third quarter at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the Nittany Lions staged an improbable 8-0 game-ending run against the tiring Irish, who were shut out in the fourth quarter.

The decisive rally started with a goal from sophomore attackman Liam Matthews with 3:14 left in the third. It continued with the first of two late goals by senior midfielder Ethan Long, with a perfect throwback assist from Traynor.

Then with 12.8 seconds left in the quarter, Traynor deflated Notre Dame by charging across goal line extended, circling the goal and burying a left-handed wraparound shot while diving successfully along the edge of the crease to cut the Irish led to 12-9.

After Lehman scored back-to-back goals in the first 2:16 of the fourth quarter to make it 12-11, Traynor delivered back-to-back unassisted daggers.

First, he broke loose up top, sprinted straight down the middle through light resistance and got inside for an easy goal to tie the game. Just over a minute later, Traynor tore through and around the Irish defense on the left side for another score in close to give the Nittany Lions a 13-12 edge with 7:27 left. It was their first lead in three quarters.

At the 6:04 mark, Long finished the scoring with a behind-the-back shot into the upper left corner. While Penn State scored on 11 of 16 second-half shots — during which Traynor scored five of his game-high six goals — the Irish shot 4-for-18 after halftime.

“What makes [Traynor] such a good player is he gets goals in a lot of different ways, and he lets the game come to him,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. “He is a challenging guy to defend, because he is not a one-trick pony.”

“Matt can beat his man all kinds of ways — using picks, driving his man off of him, or just beating his man straight up,” Long said. “It’s the way he holds off slides with his body language, or the way he cuts and really works with other players and is such a great off-ball guy. Just having him as a piece of the offense instills a lot of confidence in all of us. You can count on him.”

“You need to rely on your leaders to win a game like that, and Matt is an alpha competitor,” Tambroni said.

He had an inside track recruiting Traynor. Due to the health problems that limited Traynor’s ability to be seen much by college coaches, he was recruited lightly by Division I schools. But his two older brothers, Jack and Tripp, both played for Tambroni at Penn State.

Tripp Traynor, a 2017 graduate, was a fine defensive short-stick midfielder and a senior co-captain for the Nittany Lions. Jack Traynor graduated in 2023. Over five seasons, he played midfield and attack. He was named second team All-Big Ten as an attackman in his graduate year.

“The dream for a coach is to recruit a family, and that their younger brothers are interested in your institution and they also are a good fit there,” said Tambroni, who saw enough of Matt Traynor at events such as Under Armour tryouts to see what he liked.

“Matty has never been afraid as a competitor,” Jack Traynor said. “He would shoot the ball from 17 yards out or more, from anywhere. And the one time it would go in, he’d celebrate. He never shies away from the top defender. We saw that same confidence again on Sunday. He was not going to back down.”

Matt Traynor said that among the best lessons he has learned at Penn State is dealing with the challenges that high-level lacrosse presents on any given day. Not every day could be like his seven-goal explosion in a 10-4 win over Johns Hopkins on April 12. Or the five-goal days he had in February in a win over Colgate or a one-goal loss to Princeton.

“I’ve run into a ton of challenges this year, whether it’s an injury or not shooting the ball well or going against a really tough defender who is guarding me very well that day,” he said. “Like the coaches preach here, when you’re not at your best, what else can you provide for the team? Things like moving off ball better, riding the ball back, picking up tough ground balls, setting up a guy for an assist.”

He also thinks back to the toughest days, when playing the game was not an option. What did he do with that time as a spectator? As a film watcher or a gym rat? Or as a fan and lover of the game, rooting for his Malvern or Penn State teammates?

“That tough experience helped me a ton, just in terms of really watching the game and getting a better feel for the game,” Traynor said. “The more I sat out, the more I appreciated being able to play lacrosse with my teammates. I’ve always loved the game. I still do. I think I will for the rest of my life.”a