ROSEMONT, Ill.- Penn State men’s lacrosse’s Matt Traynor and Hunter Aquino are tabbed to the Big Ten weekly award list. Traynor is named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Aquino is the Big Ten Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Traynor had a show-stopping performance in no. 8 Penn State’s dominant win over no. 19 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, tallying 70% of the team’s goals on the board. He matched his career high seven goals while also adding an assist to match his personal best eight points. Both of these numbers are new Big Ten career records for the senior captain. Traynor also played a gritty role in the ground ball game, collective four in his outing. He currently leads the conference in goals per game (3.22) and points per game (4.78). This is the Downingtown, Pa. native’s first weekly conference nod of the season and third of his career.
Aquino collects his fifth Big Ten Freshman of the Week title of his rookie campaign while tying the Penn State program record for receiving the award set at five by Mac O’Keefe in 2017. He has also secured the most weekly conference awards of any player in the Big Ten this season. In his performance on Saturday, the freshman from Easton, Pa. added one goal for his 14th of the season. His defense proved to be a difference maker, scooping two ground balls and causing one turnover.