Pitt women’s lacrosse is set to play in the most pivotal game in its short five-year program history on Wednesday as the Panthers travel to Penn State for a ranked-against-ranked bout.
Pitt earned its first ranking in school history on Monday, slotting in at No. 25 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association rankings. The ranking comes on the heels of the team’s first top-15 win, a 17-10 rout of No. 14 Duke in the previous week. Pitt had previously received votes in the poll multiple times, but this week marks the first time it has been ranked as a team in program history.
The Panthers will take on Penn State, who now sit at No. 23 after a dominant game against local rival Bucknell, where the Nittany Lions won 21-9. Penn State will head into Wednesday with one extra game of experience under its belt and an undefeated 3-0 record. Penn State opened the season ranked at No. 24 and came in at No. 5 in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. Pitt already has a win over a Big Ten team, defeating preseason Big Ten No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus to open the season.
Here’s what fans should watch for ahead of the in-state matchup.
Incredible shooting efficiency
Both teams have begun their seasons with strong attacking performances, with Penn State averaging 16 offensive goals per game and Pitt hitting 15. Those marks rank tied for No. 10 and No. 16, respectively. Additionally, the teams are within three hundredths of a percent when it comes to scoring efficiency, with Penn State at 51.1% and Pitt at 50.8%.
Players to watch for
On the Penn State side, the Nittany Lions return an All-Big Ten player in senior attacker and captain Erika Ho, who led the 2025 Penn State team in goals, points and draw controls last season. They will have their assist leader from last season playing, and junior attacker Kelly MacKinney is set to start as well.
On the Pitt side, the current points leader is junior attacker Avery Moon, who has 10 points through Pitt’s first two contests. Junior attacker Paige Telatovich has been a force on the attack, totaling eight points through seven goals and an assist. She has a hat trick in both games Pitt has played in so far. For all their strength on the offensive side, both teams also have quality goalies in Pitt’s senior Molly Cain and Penn State’s junior Sydney Manning.
The stakes
For Pitt, this is the program’s first chance to earn a win as a ranked team — a win that should boost the young team’s ranking even higher. In the fifth year of the program, Pitt has continued to improve each year on its way to playing competitively in an incredibly tough ACC for women’s lacrosse. It would solidify the Panthers as one of the top teams across collegiate lacrosse for the season and would make their conference schedule a lot more exciting.
For Penn State, this is not its first time being ranked, nor is it a particularly significant game for the team in terms of the remainder of the season. On the other hand, it helps to fuel a significant rivalry across all sports for both teams.
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