March 7, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
Penn State (1-2, 0-0 CAA) will play two games this week. The Nittany Lions visit Villanova (3-1) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. and then host Rutgers (4-0) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions open up CAA play at UMass on Saturday, March 26, at 12 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State dropped a hard-fought 6-5 triple overtime decision to No. 12 Ohio State on Bigler Field.
HEAD COACH JEFF TAMBRONI
Veteran head coach Jeff Tambroni is in his first year as head coach of the Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team after ten outstanding seasons as head coach at Cornell University. Entering the season, Tambroni ranked fifth among active Division I coaches in winning percentage. In his last year with the Big Red, he picked up his eighth-straight Ivy League title and led the Big Red to a second-straight national semifinal appearance. Tambroni led Cornell to three NCAA semifinal appearances in the past four seasons (2007, 2009 and 2010), including the NCAA Final in 2009. He currently sports a 110-42 overall record as he enters his 11th season as a head coach. Tambroni is 1-2 at Penn State and in his first year.
GAME NOTES
THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Penn State (1-2, 0-0 CAA) will play two games this week. The Nittany Lions visit Villanova (3-1) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. and then host Rutgers (4-0) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Penn State is coming off tough 6-5 triple overtime loss to Ohio State. Shane Sturgis and Billy Gribbin each had two goals in the loss and freshman keeper Austin Kaut tallied 16 saves to earn his second CAA Rookie of the Week award. Penn State led 5-3 heading into the fourth but the 12-th ranked Buckeyes mounted a late rally to tie the game and then steal the win in the third overtime.
Leading Penn State so far this year has been Matthew Mackrides, who has six points off four goals and two assists. Sturgis has five off three and two and Gribbin has three of two and one. Danny Henneghan has won 29 of 48 face-offs and has 10 ground balls. Kaut has a superb 6.04 goals against average and an equally impressive .683 save percentage.
Villanova is coming off a 10-6 win over Fairfield last Friday night. The Wildcats also beat No. 16 Drexel and Lehigh and dropped a road game to Bucknell. Villanova is being led by Kevin Cunningham's 17 points off 11 goals and six assists and Will Casertano's 10 off five and five. VU goalie Billy Hurley has a 9.26 goals against average with a .493 save percentage.
Rutgers enters the week with a 4-0 record after an 11-1 win over St. Joseph's. The Scarlet Knights are being led by Duncan Clancy's 17 points off four goals and 13 assists. RU keeper Joe Donnelly has a 3.47 goals against average with a .421 save percentage.
The Nittany Lions open up the CAA season at UMass on Saturday, March 19, in a 12 p.m. game.
STURGIS AND GRIBBIN LEAD LION OFFENSE IN 3-0T LOSS TO #12 OHIO STATE
Shane Sturgis and Billy Gribbin each scored two goals in Penn State's hard-fought 6-5 triple overtime loss to #12 Ohio State on 3/5. The duo's efforts fell just short as the Buckeyes scored two goals in the fourth period to send the game into overtime.
KAUT EARNS SECOND CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONOR FOR OSU GAME
Penn State Nittany Lion men's lacrosse player Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week for the week ending March 6. The award is the second this year for the freshman goalie Kaut tallied 16 saves in Penn State's 6-5 triple-overtime loss to No. 12 Ohio State on Saturday.
KAUT SUPERB IN HARD FOUGHT LOSS TO NO. 3 NOTRE DAME
Freshman goalie Austin Kaut was superb in Penn State's tough 6-2 loss to No. 3 Notre Dame on 2/27. Kaut kept Penn State close (trailing only 3-2 in the fourth period), facing a flurry of Irish shots and collecting 15 saves and posting a gaudy .714 save percentage.
KAUT NAMED CAA MEN'S LACROSSE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Penn State Nittany Lion men's lacrosse player Austin Kaut (Morton, Pa.) has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week for the week ending February 20. Kaut earned the honor after earning a victory in his first game as Penn State's goalkeeper. Kaut, in his first collegiate game and head coach Jeff Tambroni's first contest as head coach at Penn State, tallied 10 saves against 17 shots in the Nittany Lions' 9-7 win over Binghamton. He also picked up two ground balls in the victory. The frosh now ranks fourth in the league with a save percentage of .588.
MACKRIDES, HENNEGHAN NAMED TO CAA PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Junior attackman Matt Mackrides and sophomore midfielder Danny Henneghan were named to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Preseason All-Conference team. Mackrides, a standout attackman from Newtown Square, Pa., was second in the CAA with 2.77 goals per game a season ago. He was fourth in the CAA with 3.38 points per game. Mackrides leads all returning Penn State players with 36 goals and 44 points. Henneghan, from Beverly Hills, Mich., was named to the CAA Preseason All-Conference Team as a face-off specialist. He figures to fill the void left by the graduation of his brother, Charley, who was named to the All-CAA First Team as a face-off specialist a year ago.
SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION OPEN NOW
The Penn State Nittany Lion men's lacrosse staff will be hosting four different boy's lacrosse camps this summer. The camps, which consist of a team camp, a goalie camp, an instructional camp and a freshmen/sophomore elite camp, are now open for registration at www.GoPSUsports.com/camps The camps will be run by Penn State's head coach, Jeff Tambroni, and assistant coaches Chris Doctor and Peter Toner. Tambroni's reputation for developing players in his summer camps has equaled his teams' successes on the playing field. Campers that attend the sessions will be able experience inspirational demonstrations, challenging developmental sessions and fun-filled competitions. The team camp will take place on July 1-3, and is open to U-15 boy's lacrosse teams. This camp is specifically designed to help U-15 boy's lacrosse teams with the opportunity to train and compete under the direction and guidance of an outstanding coaching staff. The goalie camp will take place on July 5-8 and is open to students ages eight through 18. The goalie camp is designed to provide goalies with the use of specialized drills and individual instruction sessions to enhance skill development in the cage. The instructional camp will take place from July 5-8 and is open to students ages eight through 18. This camp will include stick-work practices, games, and solid instruction that will focus on offensive and defensive strategies to help the players further refine their skills. The freshman/sophomore elite camp will be hosted from July 8-9 and is open to students who are entering grades nine and 10 next fall. This is a two-day competitive camp which will focus on advanced skill development and team play concepts for more advanced skill players who are serious about raising their skills in preparation for playing at the collegiate level. Registration for team sport camps is offered online, as well as through surface mail. Enrollment for all camps is limited, so early registration is encouraged and walk-in registrations on the day any camp opens cannot be guaranteed. For more information and to register online, go to
www.GoPSUsports.com/camps and click men's lacrosse.