The gift that keeps on giving: Division I lacrosse is making its way back to Long Island this weekend. The No. 20 UPenn and UMass Amherst lacrosse teams will wrap up their regular season schedules in a non conference match on Friday night, taking the trip down I-95 to battle it out at Farmingdale High School.

For the Quakers, the program is all too familiar with competing on Long Island soil. Back in 2022, UPenn took the lacrosse world by storm, upsetting No. 7 Duke in overtime, 14-13, oN MacArthur High School’s home field. The team hasn’t played here on the island since then, leaving an entirely new roster and coaching staff to accomplish a similar feat in their own right. UMass, on the other hand, returns to Long Island on Friday for the first time since 2024. The Minutemen went toe-to-toe with No. 19 Rutgers at Farmingdale two years ago, ultimately falling just one goal short in a 10-9 defeat. It’s a bit of deja vu for the juniors and seniors in the locker room, as they’ll enter this one as underdogs vs a Top 20 ranked program once again. This time though, they will attempt to rewrite the script.

These programs having competed on the island in recent years is only one thing they share in common. They also tend to recruit the same “hot beds” in the country annually, with the island being one of their most crucial suppliers. There are a total of eleven Long Island natives across both rosters in 2026, setting the table for quite the homecoming this weekend.

UPenn

Dante Vardaro (Commack)

Quinn Ball (Garden City)

Quinn Langton (Greenlawn)

Justin McMahon (Rockville Center)

UMass

Michael Finnerty (Melville)

Jack Weiss (Greenlawn)

Max Crane (Bay Shore)

Matthew Cargiulo (Manhasset)

Luca Cuozzo (Huntington Station)

Ryan Wieczorek (Massapequa)

Owen Heller (Bellmore)

The Quakers (6-6) are riding some momentum heading into the regular season finale, coming off a notable 12-11 victory over Brown in overtime. UPenn has been led offensively by their stud junior attackman Davis Provost, who owns a crisp 28 goals and 6 assists to his name on the season. Senior midfielder Griffin Scane has been another focal point for the Quaker offense and is on pace to finish with a career-best in points. Scane has 22 goals and 4 assists to total 26 points on the year.

It’s no secret how battle tested this UPenn squad is. The Quakers have already played five Top 10 teams so far this year, only losing one of those matchups by more than three goals (20-8 L vs No. 3 Princeton). Sophomore goalie Jack Pelot has gotten quite the action in his first season between the pipes, owning a .496 save percentage during the 2026 campaign. Pelot’s individual success has been seemingly parallel with the team’s this season. When the sophomore brings his game, more often than not, his peers do too.

UMass (10-4) has been blazing as a cohesive unit all season long, already notching ten wins under its belt for the first time since 2019. Like UPenn, the Minutemen are also fresh off a hot overtime victory, taking down Hobart 13-12 in their previous outing. The team has been powered by their young dynamic duo on offense in 2026, featuring the likes of sophomore attackman Robbie Granara and sophomore midfielder Jack Turowsky.

Turowsky, who owns a team-high 16 assists and 39 points, has been the lead facilitator for Head Coach Kyle Smith’s offense. The sophomore has paired nicely with Granara on the scoring attack, leaving Coach Smith with much to be excited about in the coming years ahead. Granara has been one of UMass’ top goal scorers this season, with 25 tallies already going into Friday’s matchup.

The Minutemen have been in good hands defensively with sophomore goalie Owen Salanger controlling the cage. Salanger has been stout as the team’s starter, commanding a strong .573 save percentage in 13 games played. The sophomore is much to thank for UMass’ mini revival in 2026, and he’ll be tasked with stopping another powerful offense in UPenn this weekend. UPenn vs. UMass will face off at 5:30pm on Friday, April 24th at Howitt Middle School.