April 28, 2014
RICHMOND, Va. - Freshman attack Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.) was named Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player and Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon. Sutton's double brings his total for the season to four.
Sutton was instrumental in Penn State's 8-7 win over visiting No. 12 and first-place Hofstra this past Saturday. The freshman revelation scored the first two goals of the game in the opening two minutes before adding a pair on either side of halftime for a game-high four tallies. The victory helped Penn State earn a winning regular season at 7-6 and 2-3 in CAA play.
Sutton, who leads the CAA during league play in goals per game (3.00) registered his second game of four or more goals on Saturday. His rookie honor is the third in the past four weeks, while he earned his first player of the week laurel in his career. He shared the award with Delaware's Tom Holland, who scored five goals in a victory over UMass.
Despite only playing in six games this year, Sutton is third on the team in goals (13) and fifth in points (14). Sutton started each of the last four games of the year, scoring a team-high 12 goals during conference play.
Although Penn State finished third in the CAA, the Nittany Lions are barred from the CAA Tournament due to league by-laws of members joining another conference. Penn State is the first affiliate member to have served the penalty as Big Ten Conference action begins for the 2015 season.
Penn State is mathematically eligible for its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with its 7-6 record. The Nittany Lions own a Ratings Percentage Index ranking of 19 entering this week. The 18-team tournament field will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.