Jan. 23, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Jan. 23, 2015 - The No. 14 Penn State men's lacrosse team engages in its first test of the 2015 season, hosting No. 20 Army in Holuba Hall on Sat., Jan. 24 at noon. The exhibition is free to attend.
Parking for all men's lacrosse contests is free of charge. Fans are asked to park in the Orange-C lot beside the former Greenberg Ice Pavilion, Lot 44 behind the Bryce Jordan Center and Penn State Lacrosse Field, or the Eisenhower and East Deck parking garages. Inform the parking attendant that you are attending the lacrosse game to park for free.
The Blue and White embarks on a challenging slate for the inaugural season of Big Ten Lacrosse. It faces eight teams ranked in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division I Preseason Coaches Poll: top-ranked Denver, No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 7 Loyola (Md.), No. 8 Maryland, No. 11 Harvard, No. 13 Penn, No. 18 Lehigh and No. 20 Army. Three additional 2015 opponents, Ohio State, UMass and Villanova, received votes in the poll.
On the heels of his third-straight winning campaign, fifth-year head coach Jeff Tambroni returns five starters and 25 letterwinners from the 2014 squad that finished third in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Eighteen of Penn State's 36 players have three-or-more years of experience, while three Under Armour All-Americans, Ryan Keenan (Smithtown, New York), Tanner Peck (Lincoln University, Pennsylvania) and Will Schreiner (Kemblesville, Pennsylvania), redshirt sophomore Virginia transfer Matt Florence (Greenwood Hills, Colorado) and eight additional incomers round out the Nittany Lions' roster.
First-year starter Connor Darcey (Wellesley, Massachusetts) will backstop the 2015 club after serving behind four-time All-American Austin Kaut. The redshirt sophomore appeared in two games last season following a four-year high school career that featured two All-America honors.
A veteran defense will work in front of Darcey, led by upperclassmen Jack Donnelly (Toronto, Ontario), JP Burnside (Garden City, N.Y.), Ryan Guitarre (Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania) and James Chakey (Havertown, Pennsylvania).
Junior long-stick midfielder James Burke (Duxbury, Massachusetts) will provide transition for the Lions as an All-CAA second team honoree. Last season, he caused 1.08 turnovers per game, the fifth-best mark in the conference.
In the midfield, All-CAA Rookie Team selections Drake Kreinz (Delafield, Wisconsin) and Mike Sutton (Sewell, New Jersey) return for their sophomore seasons. The Nittany Lions' faceoff specialist, Kreinz will look to repeat a strong rookie season at the X after he led the Blue and White to the sixth-best faceoff winning percentage in the nation (60 percent). Sutton led the team in goals per game (3.00) during league play and finished the season with 13 goals in six games played. Senior team captain Kyle Zittel (Eden, New York) will also be a force in Penn State's midfield after he played in all of the Nittany Lions' 13 games last season, picking up a career-best 11 ground balls and causing four turnovers.
Penn State's offense prowess comes back this season with junior TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) and sophomore Dan Craig (Shelburne, Ontario). Last season, Sanders ranked second on the team with 23 goals and 26 points, and led the squad with four man-up goals. Craig returns from a solid freshman campaign that saw him tally nine goals and eight assists.
Penn State hosts a second preseason match on Sat., Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. against No. 18 Lehigh before opening the regular season in Happy Valley on Sat., Feb. 7 at noon against Vermont.