Things didn’t look good for the Penn State men’s lacrosse team with just under six minutes remaining in the third period of Sunday’s NCAA Tournament quarterfinal against Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish had taken their largest lead of the game at six goals and it appeared a brief rally by the Nittany Lions had been repelled.

Over the past two seasons on the way to consecutive national championships, Notre Dame had routinely put opponents away at that point in games.

Much to the surprise of a huge crowd at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Penn State completely took over the rest of the way.

Senior midfielder Matt Traynor provided the offensive spark and fifth-seeded Penn State used a remarkable game-ending run to defeat Notre Dame, 14-12, before a record-setting crowd of 17,721 in Annapolis. The Nittany Lions advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinals, where they’ll face top-seeded Cornell on Saturday at noon in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Traynor scored six goals and assisted another to lead Penn State (12-4), which advanced to the semifinals for the third time in program history and second time in the span of three seasons. Senior midfielder Ethan Long and sophomore attackman Kyle Lehman scored three goals apiece for the Nittany Lions, who closed the contest on an 8-0 run.

“I’ve been in the game for a long time and I’m not sure I’ve ever been part of a win like that. It was a lot of fun to be part of,” Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni said. “An 8-0 run is tough to explain. I think the biggest thing today was that our guys truly believed in each other.”

Senior attackman Chris Kavanagh and graduate student midfielder Jordan McClane both totaled three goals and two assists to lead Notre Dame (9-5), which was seeking to reach the semifinals for the third straight season and fifth time overall.

“A disappointing second half. We didn’t play well. We didn’t do the things we normally do well and we let it get away from us,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. “Their guys were very aggressive attacking the cage in the second half and did a nice job finishing balls.”

McLane scored two straight goals — one on a sidearm crank shot from the wing, the other on a nifty backhand flip from the crease — to give Notre Dame what seemed like a commanding 12-6 lead at the 5:56 mark of the third quarter.

Penn State began its comeback just under three minutes later when sophomore attackman Liam Matthews scored off a nice feed from senior midfielder Luke Walstrum. The Nittany Lions then netted two goals in less than a minute thanks to the playmaking of Traynor.

First, the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Year drew a double team then dished off to Long for a wide-open crank shot that stuck the top corner with 1:07 remaining in the frame. Traynor then authored the highlight reel play of the game, circling around from behind the cage then diving forward to slam dunk the ball just inside the near post.

Just like that, a six-goal deficit had been reduced to three and Penn State carried confidence into the fourth quarter despite still trailing 12-9.

“I think that gave us a lot of momentum,” Long said of the 3-0 run at the end of the third period. “Penn State always travels well, so to hear the crowd on your side definitely really helps.”

One could sense the tide turning and it did so in dramatic fashion after Lehman scored twice in the span of just over a minute to get within one. Lehman’s second goal came off a bounce shot that Notre Dame goalie Thomas Ricciardelli initially saved. However, the ball fell out of the netminder’s stick and bounced backward over the goal line to make it 12-11 at the 12:44 mark.

Traynor then scored back-to-back goals on determined drives to the net. The Malvern Prep product powered his way right through the heart of the defense for a point-blank shot that tied the score then beat a defender one-on-one from the wing for another shot from the doorstep to give Penn State a 13-12 lead.

“I was being a little selfish in that first half. I didn’t really have my head up that much. I was kind of just dodging to score. I took accountability for that in the locker room at halftime,” Traynor said. “I think we started moving the ball a lot more and that opened up more opportunities for dodges and created more space in general. I think we were just being more intelligent on the offensive end. We were taking what they were giving us.”

Tambroni had high praise for Traynor, who leads Penn State with 42 goals and 59 points.

“I do believe Matt is one of the best offensive players in the country. Period,” Tambroni said. “To see that against Notre Dame and on a stage like this. That was one of the best offensive performances I’ve been part of as a coach.”

Long completed the impressive 8-0 run by scoring off a behind-the back shot from the crease. Meanwhile, Notre Dame could not get anything going on the other end against a Penn State defense that switched to a zone after falling behind by six goals. The Fighting Irish settled for low-percentage perimeter shots and did not put a single one on goal over the final 19 minutes of the game.

“They went to a zone and we kind of stayed stagnant on the outside and didn’t generate any offense and gave them life,” said Kavanagh, who closes his career with 242 points.

“Our zone offense was not good today. We had chances, we just didn’t shoot well. We missed the cage a lot late,” Corrigan said.

Penn State goalie Jack Fracyon, an Annapolis resident, made just two of his nine saves in the second half. Meanwhile, Ricciardelli stopped just one shot in the second half.

After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, Penn State was outscored 8-1 the rest of the opening half and trailed 8-3 at halftime. Tambroni acknowledged the coaching staff and players were searching for answers at intermission.

“We went into halftime and honestly didn’t feel like anything was going well,” Tambroni said. “I wish I had answers as to why we played the way we did in the first half and why it flipped in the second half. Notre Dame was controlling every aspect of the game.”

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