UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The two graduate students for Villanova men's lacrosse finished off a top-10 victory on Saturday afternoon as Dan Martin found the twine for an overtime game winner at Holuba Hall off an assist from Luke Raymond for a 14-13 win over No. 7 Penn State.
Martin buried his second goal of the game with a right-handed hammer one minute into overtime of the season lidlifter, delivering the Wildcats their first top 10 victory since February 15, 2025 against No. 9 Yale.
The win marks Villanova's 10th ever against the Nittany Lions and moves head coach Mike Corrado to 9-9 all-time opposite Penn State.
Nick Lucchesi led the way for Villanova (1-0) with four points on a hat trick and assist while Raymond and Colin Michener each added two goals and a helper.
Kessy Cox (two goals) and Ryan Welgos each scored their first career goals in the contest as Ryan Martin added an assist for his first collegiate point.
Lucas Newton put up a pair of early assists, Jake Melchionni hoovered up six ground balls on the day, Denis Fargione made five saves between the pipes and Ryan Cunningham and George Glomb combined for 13 faceoff wins.
The first quarter saw Penn State breaking the tie three different times, but each time Villanova struck right back. The Nittany Lions opened the game up with a goal on their first possession, but the 'Cats answered shortly later as Newton drew a double team and fed to an open David Link for the first VU tally of the year.
Raymond created one for himself shortly after, shaking a defender to even things at two. Then with just 16 seconds left in the opening period, Michener uncorked a lefty hammer to tie the score at three after one frame.
Lucchesi struck first in the second quarter with a solo effort to give VU its first lead of the day, then Welgos recorded his first career goal in transition to grant the 'Cats a 5-3 edge and force a PSU pause.
After a Penn State score, Gavin Michener added an unassisted tally to move VU's lead back to two but the Nittany Lions got both back to make it a 6-6 score at halftime.
Cox struck just over a minute into the third quarter for the first point of his career, then a C. Michener goal answered back-to-back PSU strikes for an 8-8 game. The hosts added one more with under a minute left in the frame to lead 9-8 after 45 minutes.
Lucchesi didn't waste any time in the final period with an unassisted goal at 14:02 to even things again, but Penn State then scored three straight to take a 12-9 lead and force a VU pause.
But the 'Cats weren't to be counted out as four straight unassisted efforts gave the visitors the lead back with Lucchesi, Cox and D. Martin all scoring before Raymond got VU a one-goal lead at 2:44. PSU struck in transition under a minute later to make it a 13-13 affair.
Cunningham won the ensuing faceoff to give Villanova a chance at another regulation goal, but a PSU save and subsequent Fargione cover-up kept the game going into overtime.
The Wildcats got the ball to start overtime as Melchionni scooped up the faceoff ground ball, and 50 seconds later it was Martin teaming up with Raymond to grant Villanova a big-time win.
It's the first VU victory over Penn State since the current seniors were freshmen in 2023, drawing the all-time series closer to even with 10 VU wins historically.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will return to Villanova Stadium a week from today for their home opener, hosting the Saint Joseph's Hawks at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.
