Princeton gets a second shot at Penn State on Sunday, when the No. 1 Tigers and No. 8 Nittany Lions meet in an NCAA quarterfinal at noon at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware. The winner advances to the national semifinals to face the winner of Georgetown-Duke.

The rematch comes nearly three months after Princeton opened its season against Penn State on Feb. 14 and lost 13-7 on Sherrerd Field. Penn State seized control early in that game, leading 7-1 after the first quarter and outshooting Princeton 14-2 in the first 15 minutes. Hunter Aquino scored three goals for Penn State in the win.

Princeton enters at 14-2, while Penn State is 10-5, and the quarterfinal will be shown on ESPNU. For Princeton, the game is about more than revenge. It is about keeping a run alive that has put the program back among the sport’s defining powers. The Tigers are making their 25th NCAA tournament appearance and have won six NCAA championships, reached eight title games and made 11 Final Fours, most recently in 2022.

They have also been efficient in this bracket. Princeton is 11-7 in quarterfinal games and 6-2 all-time in NCAA tournament overtime games. The Tigers are in the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year, their longest stretch since 1990-2004, after going eight seasons without a bid between 2012 and the start of the current run. Georgetown, meanwhile, carries the longest active NCAA tournament streak in Division I at eight years.

The numbers behind Princeton’s season explain why the Tigers are seeded to go deeper than a rematch. Nate Kabiri has 35 goals and 41 assists for 76 points, with only 14 turnovers. Chad Palumbo has scored 12 goals on 15 shots with three assists in his last two NCAA tournament games. Princeton has allowed only 22 goals in its last 161:21 after conceding six in the first 18:39 against Yale, and it leads the Ivy League in scoring defense at 9.88 goals per game.

The offense has kept pace. Princeton has scored at least 11 goals in each of its last 15 games, the longest such streak in program history, and has reached at least 15 goals in eight of its last nine. The Tigers have scored 237 goals in 2026, a program record, with Kabiri on 99 career goals and Palumbo on 98. Princeton has 16 career 100-goal scorers, a reminder of the scoring depth that has helped carry the team into May.

That blend of control and consistency will be tested again against a Penn State team that already knows how to break Princeton open early. The first meeting was a warning and a measuring stick. Sunday is the chance to answer it, with a place in the national semifinals on the line.