April 25, 2013
Game Notes | Live Stats (free) & Live Video ($) | Penn State to Host CAA Championship | 2013 Yearbook
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The eighth-ranked Penn State men's lacrosse team will look to capture its first undefeated conference run when it takes on Hofstra Saturday night at Shuart Stadium. The Nittany Lions, which are on an overall eight-game winning streak, are searching for their 12th straight road win.
A win for Hofstra will cause a rematch in the CAA Championship Semifinals set for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1 at Penn State Lacrosse Field. A Penn State win puts the Pride in a precarious position, needing both Massachusetts and Saint Joseph's to lose to Delaware and Towson, respectively, to earn the No. 4 seed.
#8 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (10-3, 5-0 CAA) at HOFSTRA PRIDE (7-6, 2-3 CAA)
Game 14: April 27, 2013 // 7:00 p.m. // James M. Shuart Stadium // Hempstead, N.Y.
GAME DAY
VENUE: Shuart Stadium (turf; 15,000)
STREAMING COVERAGE: GoHofstra.com
TELEVISION COVERAGE: Verizon FIOS1 (Tape Delay - Long Island/New Jersey)
SERIES RECORD: 6-10
LAST MEETING: April 28, 2012 PSU 9-8 (2OT at University Park, Pa.)
NEXT GAME: May 1, CAA Semifinal at Penn State
GAME NOTES
• Penn State will try to extend eight-game overall and 11-game road winning streak
• PSU can match single-season wins mark (11 in 1995) at Hofstra
• The Nittany Lions defeated Hofstra last year, 9-8, in Happy Valley double OT thriller
• Penn State has taken two of the past three matchups from the Pride
• PSU and UD have six common opponents; Penn State is 5-1, Hofstra is 3-3
• Hofstra has fallen in 5 of its past 7 games including the past two to UMass & UNC
• Lions won at Delaware, 13-7, to clinch CAA's No. 1 seed, hosting responsibility
• Jack Forster scored four times at Delaware for 7th hat trick of the year, 12th of career
• Forster is riding a 25-game point streak dating back to Mar. 3, 2012
• Austin Kaut made 14 saves vs. UD and has .714 save percentage in last 8 games
• Penn State are ranked eighth this week for the third time in 2013
• The Nittany Lions host the No. 4 seed in Happy Valley on Wednesday
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Hofstra (7-6, 2-3 CAA) opened the season in great stride with a 5-1 record and a national ranking of seventh as recently as March 23. Nevertheless, the Pride have dropped five of their last seven and are in a nearly must-win situation to qualify for the CAA Championship. A win assures the Pride of the No. 4 seed and a rematch with Penn State. A loss leaves their fate in the hands of UMass and Saint Joseph's, who could sneak into the tournament.
Hofstra dropped a tough 9-8 home game to UMass last week following a 14-5 loss to No. 3 North Carolina the week before. The Pride boasts the stingiest defense in the nation, giving up just 7.15 goals per game. HU has held offenses to just 19.7 percent shooting this season, but allowed 25.6 percent in its last two games. In net, Chris Selva is third in the nation in goals-against average (7.10) and was first in the country until last week. Selva has posted a 62.7 save percentage with 156 saves thus far.
Hofstra's featured goal scorer is Torin Varn with 30 tallies, while Sam Llinares has 18 goals and 12 assists. Adrian Sorichetti rounds out the scorers with 20 or more points with 14 goals and 12 assists. HU scores at a clip of 8.77 goals a game, while shooting 24.2 percent.
Preseason All-American and two-time All-CAA honoree John Antoniades handles the faceoff duties. A career winning percentage of 57.5 percent entering the year, Antoniades has post a 50.2 percent mark in 2013. As a team, the Pride are winning 48.3 percent of the faceoffs.
COMMON ENEMIES
Penn State and Hofstra have faced each of their fellow CAA rivals once with a lone non-conference matchup with Notre Dame as part of their common schedule. The Lions dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker to the then-No. 3 Irish at home on Feb. 24, while Hofstra pulled off the upset over then No. 2 Notre Dame, 8-7, in South Bend on March 16. Nevertheless, Penn State is 5-1 against common foes, while Hofstra is 3-3.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. HOFSTRA
All-Time Series: 6-10
PSU Streak: 1 win
First Meeting: 4/11/55, HOF 13-3
Last Meeting: 4/28/12, PSU 9-8 (2OT)
Last PSU Win: 4/28/12, 9-8 (2OT)
Last HOF Win: 4/30/11, 9-4
Largest PSU Win : 9-3 (4/3/56), 16-10 (4/18/82)
Largest HOF Win : 13-2 (4/7/58), 20-9 (4/26/80), 17-6 (3/10/90)
PSU at HOF: 7-3
PSU Goals vs. HOF: 117-170
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VS. HOFSTRA
4/28/12: W, 9-8 (2OT) - H
4/30/11: L, 4-9 - A
4/17/10: W, 11-10 (OT) - H
3/10/90: L, 6-17 - A
4/6/85: L, 13-14 (OT) - H
LAST TIME VS. HOFSTRA (April 28, 2012)
A Shane Sturgis goal in the second overtime capped a 6-1 run as Penn State overcame Hofstra, 9-8, and eliminated the Pride from CAA Championship contention. Down 7-3 entering the fourth, Penn State rallied off five of the next six goals, including Gavin Ahern's tying goal with 18 seconds remaining to force overtime. Austin Kaut made 14 saves, including two in double overtime, while Matthew Mackrides tallied five points on three goals and two assists. Sturgis posted four points and Jack Forster posted three.
CHAMPIONSHIP HUNTING
The Nittany Lions captured a share of their first CAA title by winning at Delaware on Saturday, also clinching the league's No. 1 seed and right to host the CAA Championship (May 1-3). Outright claim to the crown can come this Saturday with a victory over Hofstra. Penn State's only conference title in the NCAA Championship era (since 1971) came in 2005 when the Lions shared the ECAC title with Massachusetts. This is the third straight season the Nittany Lions have qualified for the CAA Championship.
CAA FOURTH SEED SCENARIOS
Penn State will face the No. 4 seed on Wednesday in the CAA Championship Semifinals. The fourth seed will be Hofstra (2-3), UMass (1-4) or Saint Joseph's (1-4). Delaware (1-4) has been eliminated after tiebreakers.
If Hofstra wins... The Pride are in.
If Hostra loses, UMass beats Delaware and Towson beats SJU... UMass is in.
If Hofstra loses, UMass beats Delaware and SJU beats Towson... Hawks are in.
If all three teams lose... Hofstra is in.
TEAM HISTORY AT STAKE
The Nittany Lions are having one of the finest seasons in the storied history of the program. If the team manages an 11th win, that would match the best mark set in 1995 when Penn State went 11-2 finishing with a season-ending ranking of 11th in the USILA poll. The Nittany Lions have already clinched the top seed in the CAA Championship and could capture its first conference postseason title. Moreover, Penn State is looking for its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2005. If Penn State wins a game in the CAA Championship or happens to play in the NCAA Tournament, the Nittany Lions will play 16 games in a season for the first time in school history.
ROAD WINNING STREAK
With the win at Delaware, Penn State has ticked off a school-record 11 straight true road wins. This season Penn State is 6-0 on the road after going 5-0 in 2012. The Lions' last road loss was Apr. 30, 2011 at Hofstra. Penn State has won 13 of its last 14 true road games.
Of the 14 regular-season contests, Penn State will be home for just five of them, making the Nittany Lions one of the most road tested teams in the country. In total, seven games are true road contests along with two neutral site games. Penn State will look to improve to 8-1 away from Happy Valley on Apr. 20 at Delaware.
CLIMBING UP THE LEADERBOARD
Three Nittany LionsÂ--Jack Forster, Danny Henneghan and Austin Kaut--are heading into or already in the Penn State record books. For Henneghan, he currently ranks sixth all-time in faceoff winning percentage (.529) and sits on 204 career ground balls, good for 10th all-time at PSU. In net, Kaut ranks seventh all-time in saves with 497. He is 13 saves behind Rich Caravella for sixth place. As for Forster, he's three goals from tying 6th place (97, Jim Laverty) and seven points from sixth (144, Matthew Mackrides).
POWER KAUT IN NET
A preseason All-American and Tewaaraton Award Watch List candidate, junior Austin Kaut is considered one of the best goalkeepers in college lacrosse. Following an average start to year three in Happy Valley, Kaut has stepped up his game. In the past five outings, he has posted a 5.32 GAA and a .714 save percentage, allowing just 42 goals and saving 105 shots. Kaut has stopped at least nine shots in each game and has 13 or more saves in five of those contests. Penn State started the season 2-3, but is 7-0 since. Kaut opened the season with a 9.79 GAA and .490 save percentage behind 48 saves and 50 goals allowed.
DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Penn State's offense has improved mightily in 2013 with the attacking trio of Jack Forster (46points) TJ Sanders (39), and Shane Sturgis (34). Penn State is averaging 10.38 goals per game this season with a shooting percentage of .294. Last season, the Nittany Lions scored just 8.73 goals per game and post a percentage of .258. Also, assists, points, shots and ground balls per game are up from 2012.
HAT TRICK HEROS
Jack Forster posted a four-goal game against Delaware, his fifth hat trick of the season and 12th of his career. TJ Sanders notched a five-goal game against Towson on April 13, his seventh hat trick of the season. Tom LaCrosse has two hat tricks this season, bringing his career total to four, while Shane Sturgis has five, his last coming against Denver on Feb. 19. Nick Dolik tallied his third career hat trick on Tuesday, March 19 at Binghamton.
Jack Forster: 12
TJ Sanders: 7
Shane Sturgis: 5
Tom LaCrosse: 4
Nick Dolik: 3
Gavin Ahern: 2
Kyle VanThof: 1
FORSTER'S STREAKING
Penn State's attack has Jack Forster with a 25-game streak, which started on March 3, 2012 against Ohio State. Forster has 53 goals, 24 assists and 77 points during the streak.
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
Penn State finished a stretch of five games from Feb. 9-March 16 against USILA ranked opponents as PSU went 2-3. After a March 26 win at Bucknell, Penn State's record improved to 3-3, including 2-1 against top 10 teams. Three weeks ago, Penn State downed 12th-ranked Drexel to improve to 4-3 in games against ranked foes. According to the NCAA RPI, Penn State has faced the sixth-toughest schedule when counting the top 10 opponents, facing an average opponent ranking of 16.7 in the NCAA RPI. That number will improve after this weekend as Delaware is PSU's 10th opponent at No. 44 and Hofstra is No. 24.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State returns to Happy Valley to host the CAA Championship on Wednesday, May 1 at 3:00 p.m. The Nittany Lions' opponent will not be determined until Saturday night following the final regular season games. PSU could face Hofstra, Massachusetts or Saint Joseph's. The second semifinal will be Drexel vs. Towson.
The two semifinal winners will vie for the CAA Championship crown on Friday, May 3 at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Opening faceoff is set for 3:00 p.m.
Penn State men's lacrosse offers three exciting camps this summer. The boys' freshman/sophomore elite camp runs June 30-July 1, while the goalie and instructional camps run from July 1-4. For more information, CLICK HERE.
--NITTANY LIONS--