May 2, 2013
Game Notes | Live Video | | CAA Championship Central
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Ninth-ranked and top-seeded Nittany Lion men's lacrosse will vie for the Colonial Athletic Association Championship title on Friday at 3 p.m. when it hosts fourth-seeded Towson at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Penn State is riding a 10-game win streak following its first postseason win on Wednesday over UMass. Towson advanced to the final by defeating the No. 2 seed, Drexel. Both games will be streamed live on CAA.tv free of charge.
TICKETS & PARKING
Tickets for each session will be $8 for adults and $5 for students. Students from participating schools will receive free admission with a valid ID. Groups of 15 or more are $5 each at the gate.
Parking for the event will be free in Lot 44. Fans can access Lot 44 by using Dauer Drive off University Drive or Porter Road. Media requests can be made to Jeremy Fallis (jeremy.fallis@psu.edu).
#9 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS ((12-3) vs. TOWSON TIGERS (9-7)
Game 15: May 1, 2013 // 3:00 p.m. // Penn State Lacrosse Field // University Park, Pa.
GAME DAY
VENUE: Penn State Lacrosse Field (turf; 1,000)
STREAMING COVERAGE: CAAsports.tv
SERIES RECORD: 7-13
LAST MEETING: April 13, 2013; PSU 10-8 (at University Park, Pa.)
NEXT GAME: TBD; NCAA Selection Show, Sunday at 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
GAME NOTES
• Penn State looks for its first postseason title & 11th straight win vs. Towson
• PSU can clinch an automatic berth to NCAA tourney with CAA Championship title
• Nittany Lions swept the season-end CAA awards on Thursday
• Austin Kaut named Player & Defensive Player of the Year; Jeff Tambroni earned Coach of the Year; TJ Sanders garnered Rookie of the Year
• Penn State placed six on All-CAA First Team
• Towson defeated Drexel, 11-8, in CAA Semifinals on Wednesday
• The Nittany Lions defeated Towson, 10-8, in Happy Valley on April 13
• Shane Sturgis led the Lions with five points in win over UMass on Wednesday
• Jack Forster and TJ Sanders added two goals apiece vs. UMass
• Forster is riding a 27-game point streak dating back to Mar. 3, 2012
• Steven Bogert posted a seven-ground ball, five-caused turnover day vs. Minutemen
• Austin Kaut made 11 saves vs. UM and has .704 save percentage in last 10 games
HOW THEY GOT HERE
PENN STATE 10, UMASS 7
Shane Sturgis tallied five points on four goals and an assist as Penn State out-scored UMass 7-3 in the second half for a 10-7 win. PSU's 5-0 run spanned the third and fourth quarters to overcome a 6-5 deficit and turn it into a 10-6 lead. Steven Bogert led the Nittany Lions defensively with seven ground balls and five caused turnovers. Jack Forster and TJ Sanders each added two goals. Austin Kaut made 11 saves, while Grant Whiteway tallied a hat trick for the Minutemen.
TOWSON 11, DREXEL 8
The Towson Tigers jumped out to a six-goal lead in the second quarter and held off a furious Drexel rally to win, 11-8. Redshirt-freshman Ben McCarty struck for six goals, equaling his season output entering the contest. He tallied four of Towson's last five goals. Andrew Hodgson netted two goals and Justin Mabus helped with three assists. Andrew Wascavage stopped 14 Drexel attempts. The Dragons were led by a five-point game from Robert Church (three goals, two assists), while Ben McIntosh added two goals of his own.
PENN STATE SWEEPS CAA AWARDS
Penn State swept the 2013 Colonial Athletic Association season awards on Thursday, May 2, taking each individual honor and placing six Nittany Lions on the All-CAA First Team. In all, nine members of the Nittany Lion lacrosse squad earned recognition by the league in a vote conducted by the coaches. Penn State placed six members on the All-CAA First Team, one on the second team and two on the rookie squad.
PENN STATE ALL-CAA HONORS
Coach of the Year: Jeff Tambroni
Player of the Year: Austin Kaut
Defensive Player of the Year: Austin Kaut
Rookie of the Year: TJ Sanders
All-CAA First Team: Jack Forster, Tom LaCrosse, Steven Bogert, Danny Henneghan, Tyler Travis, Austin Kaut
All-CAA Second Team: TJ Sanders
All-CAA Rookie Team: James Burke, TJ Sanders
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Following a 0-3 start to the season, Towson has gone 9-4 since. The Tigers were 11-8 winners over No. 18 Drexel on Wednesday. Tiger `keeper Andrew Wascavage has an impressive .612 save percentage and an 8.87 GAA, saving 221 shots this year. The Tigers score 8.94 goals per game, while allowing 8.81 a contest. On offense, Thomas DeNapoli is Towson's sniper, tallying 39 goals with 16 assists. Andrew Hodgson is next on the team in scoring with 22 tallies, while six of Ben McCarty's 12 goals came against Drexel on Wednesday. Towson struggles taking faceoffs, winning just three of 22 against Drexel. Long-stick Patrick Conroy has taken the most (120) faceoffs, winning just 38.3 percent.
DeNapoli and John Fennessey were each named to the All-CAA First Team, while Hodgson and JoJo Ostrander were second-team honorees. Freshman Pat Conroy earned a spot on the all-rookie squad.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. TOWSON
All-Time Series: 7-13
PSU Streak: 3 wins First Meeting: 4/8/81, PSU 14-6 Last Meeting: 4/13/13, PSU 10-8 Last PSU Win: 4/13/13, 10-8 Last TOW Win: 4/24/10, 10-9 Largest PSU Win: 14-6, 4/8/81 Largest TOW Win: 18-7, 4/1/87 PSU Goals vs. TOW: 191-229
LAST FIVE MEETINGS VS. TOWSON
4/13/13: W, 10-8 - H
4/14/12: W, 8-3 - A
4/16/11: W, 7-6 - H
4/24/10: L, 9-10 - A
5/10/03*: L, 6-11 - A
* This is the second meeting in postseason play, as PSU fell 11-6 at Towson in the NCAA Tournament.
LAST TIME VS. TOWSON (April 13, 2013)
Buoyed by 1,037 fans and a five-goal showing from freshman TJ Sanders, the 11th-ranked Nittany Lions defeated Towson, 10-8, at Penn State Lacrosse Field on Saturday afternoon. Sanders shined and Jack Forster pitched in with four points on a goal and three assists in a battle of first-place Colonial Athletic Association teams.
Penn State (9-3, 4-0 CAA) won its seventh-straight game thanks to a 6-1 run spanning the second and third quarters for an 8-4 lead. Despite a spirited Towson (7-6, 3-1 CAA) comeback effort, a highlight-reel goal from Forster and Sanders's fifth tally of the day staved off the Tiger attack.
Rounding out the Penn State attack was Shane Sturgis, who notched three points on two goals and an assist, while Nick Dolik had a two-point day with a goal and an assist. Austin Kaut won the battle of top goalkeepers, making nine saves. Towson's Andrew Wascavage had 11 stops. The two netminders came into the game third and fourth in national save percentage, respectively.
NATION'S LONGEST ACTIVE WIN STREAK
Penn State is enjoying a 10-game winning streak, which is the longest in the nation entering Wednesday. Duke's nine-game streak ended in the ACC Semifinals on Friday elevating Penn State to top of the list. The 10-game streak is the longest single-season win streak in PSU history and just one off the all-time mark. The 1991-92 teams strung together an 11-game win streak from April 20, 1991-April 11, 1992.
CHAMPIONSHIP HUNTING
The Nittany Lions captured their first outright regular season conference title on Saturday with a victory at 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. Penn State had never won a postseason game in NCAA or CAA tournament play before Wednesday.
TEAM HISTORY AT STAKE
The Nittany Lions are having one of the finest seasons in the storied history of the program. Penn State set a program record on Wednesday with its 12th win of the season. Over the past two seasons, Penn State has won 21 games, tying the program's most wins in a two-season span (1995-96).
Moreover, Penn State is looking for its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2005, a win on Friday would clinch the automatic bid. Even with a loss, PSU is in good position to grab an at-large bid. Friday's game will represent the longest season in school history with 16 games played. A potential NCAA tilt will push that number to 17.
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. Forster is tied for fourth all-time in goals (101) and is on pace to finish second, needing 105 career goals. On the points list, Forster (145) is sixth. For Henneghan, he currently ranks sixth all-time in faceoff winning percentage (.529) and sits on 211 career ground balls, good for 10th all-time at PSU. In net, Kaut ranks sixth all-time in saves with 518, good for sixth. The records can be found on pages 20-22.
LIGHTS KAUT
A preseason All-American and one of just 25 Tewaaraton Award nominees, 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 5.46 GAA and a .704 save percentage, allowing just 53 goals and saving 126 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 10-0 since. Kaut opened the season with a 9.79 GAA and .490 save percentage behind 48 saves and 50 goals allowed.
KAUT NAMED TEWAARATON NOMINEE
Goalkeeper Austin Kaut was one of 25 nominees named on Friday, April 26, for the Tewaaraton Award. The award honors the best player in NCAA lacrosse across all divisions. Kaut was also a nominee for the prestigious award in 2012.
DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Penn State's offense has improved mightily in 2013 with the attacking trio of Jack Forster (54 points) TJ Sanders (44), and Shane Sturgis (41). Penn State is averaging 10.73 goals per game this season with a shooting percentage of .300. 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 HEROES
Shane Sturgis broke out of a two-game scoring slump to pour in four goals against UMass on Wednesday, tallying his sixth career hat trick. Jack Forster posted a five-goal game against Hofstra, his sixth hat trick of the season and 13th of his career. TJ Sanders notched three goals against the Pride for his eighth hat trick of the season, while Steve Aitken scored his first career goals at Hofstra to earn himself a spot on the hat trick leaderboard. Tom LaCrosse has two hat tricks this season, bringing his career total to four. Nick Dolik tallied his third career hat trick on Tuesday, March 19 at Binghamton.
Jack Forster: 13
TJ Sanders: 8
Shane Sturgis: 6
Tom LaCrosse: 4
Nick Dolik: 3
Gavin Ahern: 2
Steve Aitken: 1
Kyle VanThof: 1
FORSTER'S STREAKING
Penn State's attack has Jack Forster with a 27-game streak, which started on March 3, 2012 against Ohio State. Forster has gathered 85 points on 60 goals and 25 assists 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 released April 28, Penn State has faced the fifth-toughest schedule when counting the top 10 opponents, facing an average opponent ranking of 14.4 in the NCAA RPI. That number improved to 14.1 after Wednesday's game vs. Massachusetts (22nd). Towson is 24th in the RPI according to LaxPower.com and represents the 10th opponent. Hofstra is right behind at No. 25.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State is in good position to make its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2005. If the Nittany Lions don't earn the CAA title and the automatic bid that comes with it, they'll find learn their postseason fate on Sunday at 9 p.m. The NCAA Selection Show will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
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--