March 21, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Fans who enjoy high-scoring games will enjoy seeing the 18th-ranked Albany Great Danes visiting the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions men's lacrosse Saturday afternoon at Penn State Lacrosse Field. Three of the nation's top five point scorers will be on the same field at the same time for the 1 p.m. contest.
The top-rated offense in Albany features the top two point scorers in the country, Miles and Lyle Thompson, while Penn State's potent offense is led by senior Shane Sturgis (Downingtown, Pa.), who ranks fifth in the country in points.
| #12 PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (4-3, 0-1 CAA) vs. #18 ALBANY GREAT DANES (2-3, 0-0 A-East) | |
| Game 8: March 22, 2014 • 1 p.m. • Penn State Lacrosse Field • University Park, Pa. | |
| VENUE | Penn State Lacrosse Field (Turf; 1,000) |
| COVERAGE | Live Video CANCELLED Due to Wind | |
| SERIES RECORD | 0-0 |
| LAST MEETING | n/a; First Meeting March 22, 2014 |
| NEXT TIME OUT | Saturday, March 29 vs. Villanova, 2 p.m. on BTN |
| Penn State Game Notes | |
LIMITED BAG POLICY
Fans attending Saturday's game and sitting in the bleachers next to the Multi-Sport Complex will need to comply with Penn State's Limited Bag Policy. Contents in a clear, gallon-sized bag will be permitted in addition to coats and blankets. All bags and items will not be allowed. For exact permitted items: LIMITED BAG POLICY.
GAME NOTES
• Penn State hosts its third straight home game when Albany visits Happy Valley
• The Nittany Lions and Great Danes face off for the first time in men's lacrosse
• Nittany Lions coming off a hard fought 10-6 win over Dartmouth on Tuesday
• TJ Sanders tallied game-high four goals vs. Dartmouth, his 12th hat trick
• Albany is coming off a week-long break since falling to Bryant, 12-11
• Three of the top five point scorers in Division I will be on the same field
Saturday as Lyle Thompson (1st), Miles Thompson (2nd) and Shane Sturgis (5th) play against each other
• Sturgis is 9th all-time at Penn State with 142 points, needing 3 points to reach 7th
• Austin Kaut is second in school history in saves (617), 77 behind Drew Adams (694)
• Penn State's four-game home stand concludes next week vs. Villanova
• The Nittany Lions and Wildcats will air live on the Big Ten Network
NITTANY LIONS BOUNCE BACK TO DEFEAT DARTMOUTH IN MID-WEEK CONTEST
Sophomore TJ Sanders scored four goals and senior Austin Kaut saved 13 shots as No. 12 Nittany Lion men's lacrosse defeated Dartmouth, 10-6, Tuesday evening at Penn State Lacrosse Field.
Penn State (4-3, 0-1 CAA) broke open a 4-4 deadlock by scoring six of the next seven goals in the second half to run away from the Big Green (1-3, 0-0 Ivy League). Crucial to PSU's victory was a strong third quarter where Penn State out-scored Dartmouth 4-1 behind a 10-4 margin in shots and a 15-7 edge in ground balls. Sanders scored all four of his goals during the decisive 6-1 run.
The Nittany Lions spread the scoring among seven with Dan Craig, Kyle Baier, Gavin Ahern, Michael Richards, Tommy O'Neill and Drake Kreinz scoring one goal apiece.
Penn State's balanced offense filtered into the passing game as seven of its 10 goals came off assists. Shane Sturgis was held scoreless for the first time all season, but helped on two goals, while Nick Aponte, Erik Myers, Kyle VanThof, Brian Prestreau and Craig each pitched in with an assist.
Sanders made the game 6-4 on back-to-back goals from Aponte and Myers with just 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Penn State's Cole Yeager won the ensuing faceoff and Baier slipped a low shot past Dartmouth's Blair Friedensohn (seven saves) for a 7-4 lead at the end of three quarters.
Sanders completed the hat trick 45 seconds into the fourth quarter to briefly double up Dartmouth, 8-4 on a quick feed from Prestreau. Wiley Osborne brought Dartmouth within three goals a minute later, but Sanders answered right back with 11 minutes to go and restore Penn State's four-goal lead, 9-5.
Ahern's man-up goal from Craig cemented Penn State's victory with 7:42 remaining as the Nittany Lions gathered their largest lead of the game at 10-5.
The Penn State defense turned in its best game of the season by allowing a season-low six goals on 39 shots. Key to that defensive performance was that of Kaut who matched a season-high 13 stops (Notre Dame, Feb. 22) Tuesday evening. Kaut saved four shots in the first period, two each in the second and third quarters and fifth in the final quarter to shut the door on the Big Green.
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
The nation's leading offensive team (15.8 goals per game), Albany (2-3) looks to win its third game in four outings against Penn State on Saturday. Last time out, the Great Danes dropped a 12-11 home game to Bryant last Saturday. In that game, Bryant out-shot Albany 52-42 and won 22 of the game's 27 faceoffs to hold a massive 41-18 advantage in ground balls. Albany's Blaze Riorden made 17 saves and scored a goal in the loss, while Miles Thompson scored three times. Bryant's 4-1 fourth-quarter run was the deciding factor. Prior to the Bryant game, Albany defeated Harvard, 14-8 and UMass, 25-10. The 25 goals tied a program record as Lyle Thompson scored 11 points on four goals and seven assists. Miles Thompson scored six goals and Ty Thompson tallied five goals.
Lyle leads the team with 36 points on 12 goals and 24 assists, while Miles has a team-best 22 goals and nine assists and Ty is second on the team in scoring with 14 goals. John Maloney is fourth on the team with 11 goals. The Great Danes have won just 36.1 percent of their faceoffs with Connor Russell (44.2 percent) and Kevin McNally (36.2) leading the team at the X. In net, Riorden has a .578 save percentage and a GAA of 12.20. The team shoots at 35.3 percent per game, while holding its opponents to 25.4 percent shooting. Teams average 48 shots per game against the Great Danes and out-collect Albany in ground balls by an average of 34.8 to 25.6.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ALBANY
All-Time Series: 0-0
PSU Streak: n/a
First Meeting: 3/22/14, 1 p.m.
OFFENSIVE BATTLE ON TAP
Penn State Lacrosse Field will have three of the nation's top five point scorers on Saturday. Albany's Lyle and Miles Thompson are first and seocnd nationally in points per game, averaging 7.2 and 6.2, respectively. Currently in fifth, Penn State's Shane Sturgis (4.9 points per game) completes the terrific trio of offensive weapons. Where Sturgis accounts for almost 30 percent of the team's point scoring, Lyle and Miles Thompson account for 52 percent of Albany's points five games into the season. The Great Danes lead the nation in scoring offense with 15.8 goals per game, but rank 57th of 67 teams in scoring defense, allowing 12.2 goals per game. On the other hand, Penn State ranks 18th in scoring offense (11.50) and 27th in scoring defense (9.50).
RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
Penn State once again features one of the toughest schedules in Division I lacrosse. Albany represents Penn State's sixth ranked foe in the past seven games. Thus far, Penn State is 2-3 against ranked teams following a tough loss to UMass this past Saturday. In all, seven of Penn State's 13 opponents are ranked. PSU has faced No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 9 Denver, No. 11 Loyola, No. 14 UMass and No. 19 Ohio State before facing No. 18 Albany this week. Currently, Loyola ranks second, Denver is fifth and Notre Dame comes in at No. 8.
NITTANY LIONS AGAINST RANKED FOES
Penn State will play its 213th game against a ranked opponent Saturday vs. No. 18 Albany. PSU is 69-143 all-time against ranked teams. During Jeff Tambroni's tenure at Penn State the Nittany Lions have gone 9-12 with a 3-5 campaign in 2012, 4-4 showing in 2013 and 2-3 thus far in 2014. Saturday's game against Albany will be the sixth contest against a ranked foe this season.
CLIMBING UP THE LEADERBOARD
Austin Kaut has made his stamp in the Penn State record books with the majority of the 2014 season remaining. In net, Kaut ranks in second place all-time in saves with 617, needing 77 saves to catch Drew Adams (2006-09), who is the all-time saves leader with 694. Offensively, Shane Sturgis moved into sole possession of ninth all-time at Penn State in points scored with 142 following Tuesday's two-point outing. Sturgis is one point behind Chris Lehman (1990-93) and two points back of former teammate Matthew Mackrides (2009-12). Last year's running mate Jack Forster (2008-13) is six points ahead of Sturgis.
HAT TRICK HEROES
Shane Sturgis has registered a hat trick or more in five of seven games this season, bringing his career total to 11, while TJ Sanders has recorded back-to-back hat tricks to push his career total to 12. Joining Sturgis in the goal party three weeks ago in Columbus was Kyle VanThof, who earned his second hat trick in his career. His previous high was four against UMass in 2011. In all, Penn State features seven scorers who have tallied hat tricks in their careers: Sanders (12 times), Sturgis (11), Tom LaCrosse (3), VanThof (2), Gavin Ahern (2), Kyle Baier (1) and Steve Aitken (1).
TJ Sanders 12
Shane Sturgis 11
Tom LaCrosse 3
Gavin Ahern 2
Kyle VanThof 2
Kyle Baier 1
Steve Aitken 1
YEAR-TO-YEAR IMPROVEMENT
Penn State's offensive output improved mightily from 2012 to 2013, nearly a two-goal increase. With 80 percent of the starting lineup still intact from last season, most of those numbers continue to improve during the 2014 season. Penn State has had a bump in scoring from 2013 to 2014 (10.47-11.29), assists (4.89-5.29), points (15.35-16.57) and shooting percentage (.294-.324).
NEXT TIME OUT: VILLANOVA
Penn State's four-game home stand concludes Saturday, March 29 as Keystone State rival Villanova visits Happy Valley. The 2 p.m. contest is slated for a live broadcast on Big Ten Network. The game is also the annual Alumni Reunion Weekend at Penn State Lacrosse Field.
NITTANY LIONS ON BTN
For the second straight year, Penn State will have one of its games air live on Big Ten Network when Villanova comes to Happy Valley next Saturday. Last season, Penn State defeated Towson, 10-8, on BTN.