This Penn lacrosse player scored a full-field goal — and it wasn’t the first time he’s done it.

Penn beat Villanova, 11-8, in men’s lacrosse Saturday in the annual Farrell Cup contest. Junior Griffin Scane finished the night with a career-high five goals, but it wasn’t Scane who walked away with the goal of the night. Instead it was fifth-year senior defenseman Brendan Lavelle.

Six minutes into the first quarter, Penn goalie Emmet Carroll saved the ball from going out of bounds and passed it to Lavelle. With five seconds to clear the ball, still standing behind Penn’s goal, Lavelle took a deep breath, aimed toward Villanova’s goal, and let it fly.

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“They had their goalie out and we were just trying to clear the ball,” Lavelle said. “The ball ended up behind our cage and Emmett made an unbelievable play to tap it back inbounds through his legs. And then there wasn’t a lot of time left and I was just trying to see where the goalie was and he was out of the cage. I knew I had to get it down to the attack in the offense pretty quickly, so I just looked at the goal and tried to get it as far as possible. Luckily it went in.”

Penn practices this play almost every other week. “The coaches did a good job preparing the goalies and defense to be ready for it and the opportunity presented itself at the right time,” Lavelle said. “But it’s not very often that distance. It’s usually about 50 yards total for practice.”

The full-field goal against Villanova was reminiscent of Lavelle’s first goal with Penn. The long pole, he scored in last year’s 15-12 win against Harvard. With less than a minute left, Lavelle fired the ball from the defensive end to score his first goal — which was also assisted by Carroll, his former high school teammate in Rye, N.Y.

The two have known each other dating back to playing flag football together in first grade. Since then, they have been inseparable, forming a special connection on the lacrosse field.

“It’s awesome to play with one of your best friends from growing up — like, I haven’t played on a lacrosse team without him,” Lavelle said. “So I’ve known him very well and he knows me very well and what we like on the field and how we need to pick each other up or hold each other accountable. So it’s awesome to have one of your best friends in the cage and someone you can rely on all the time playing with.”

The defenseman can add the flashy play to his long list of accolades, which includes being named first-team All-Ivy and a USA Lacrosse first-team All-American last season. When asked where the long-range goal ranks in terms of his best moments playing lacrosse, Lavelle responded, “It’s definitely up there. I enjoyed that one a lot, but there are a lot of other good ones that I’ve had throughout my time and before that.”

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At the top of his list was winning the Ivy League tournament in 2022 after a dominant 16-9 Penn win over Yale. Fast-forward three years and the Quakers are preparing for their Ivy League opener on Saturday against Brown (1 p.m., ESPN+).

“It’s kind of a whole new season,” Lavelle said. “Everyone starts zero and zero, and we’re just as excited to start this game as the beginning of the season. It’s a whole new opportunity for us to compete against some of the best teams in the country.”