March 28, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's lacrosse team is ranked 20th in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division I Coaches Poll for the week of March 27th, 2011. Following upset wins over Rutgers and the University of Massachusetts, and a 14-6 victory over conference foe St. Joseph's, the Lions have achieved their first top 20 ranking since the end of the 2009 season. Penn State is currently 4-3 in the 2011 campaign, including a 2-0 conference record, their best conference start since joining the Colonial Athletic Association. The CAA boasts 4 teams in the top 20, as Penn State joins Hofstra (t10), UMass (14), and Delaware (t18).
First year head coach Jeff Tambroni is in familiar territory, as he led the Big Red of Cornell to a top 10 ranking in every week of the 2010 season. Tambroni looks to continue that tradition with the Nittany Lions, who currently sit tied atop the CAA standings with the University of Delaware (6-3, 2-0 CAA). Several Nittany Lion players sit near the top of the conference's statistical leader boards. Junior Jack Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.) and sophomore Kyle VanThof (Penfield, NY) are tied for second among CAA players in goals per game, averaging two goals apiece. Freshman goalie Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) sits atop the conference in saves per game, averaging 16.5 saves, five saves/game ahead of second place. Penn State's fourteen goals against St. Joseph's on March 26th mark the most goals scored by a team in a CAA conference game this season.
Penn State looks to improve their record with two important non-conference games this week. The Nittany Lions will travel to Bucknell (7-2) on Tuesday, March 29 for a 7:30 p.m. contest, before visiting Lehigh (5-4) on Saturday, April 2 for a 1 p.m. faceoff. Penn State returns home on Saturday, April 9 to host Drexel (5-1, 1-1 CAA) for a 1 p.m. CAA Conference matchup. The game will be played at Bigler Field unless otherwise announced.