Jan. 5, 2015
Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top-20
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Jan. 5, 2015 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team was picked 15th in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top-20 for the inaugural season of Big Ten lacrosse. The poll is voted on by the Lacrosse Magazine staff.
Jeff Tambroni's fifth season at the program's helm marks the inaugural season of Big Ten lacrosse, which includes Ohio State, Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and Michigan. The Nittany Lions hold the third-highest ranking among Big Ten teams. In total, four of the conference's six squads appear on the list.
The Blue and White will face eight teams ranked in the preseason poll: top-ranked Denver, No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 8 Maryland, No. 9 Loyola (Md.), No. 11 Penn, No. 12 Harvard, No. 14 Lehigh and No. 20 Ohio State.
Penn State returns five starters and 25 letterwinners from its 2014 squad that finished third in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
All-CAA Rookie Team honorees Drake Kreinz (Delafield, Wisconsin) and Mike Sutton (Sewell, New Jersey) return for their sophomore seasons. Kreinz ranked 12th nationally in faceoff winning percentage (.611), good for third in the CAA. Sutton led the team in goals per game (3.00) during league play and finished the season with 13 goals in six games played.
Junior long-stick midfielder James Burke (Duxbury, Massachusetts) was named to the All-CAA second team in 2014 after finishing second on the team in caused turnovers (14) while picking up a fourth-best 29 ground balls for the Nittany Lions.
The Nittany Lions' attacking presence returns 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 opens its 2015 campaign with a pair of home scrimmages against Army on Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. and Lehigh on Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. The regular season kicks off in University Park on Feb. 7 with a noon game against Vermont.
2015 NIKE/LACROSSE MAGAZINE PRESEASON TOP-20
1. Denver
2. Notre Dame
3. Duke
4. Syracuse
5. Johns Hopkins
6. North Carolina
7. Virginia
8. Maryland
9. Loyola (Md.)
10. Cornell
11. Penn
12. Harvard
13. Albany
14. Lehigh
15. PENN STATE
16. Yale
17. Hofstra
18. Drexel
19. Bryant
20. Ohio State
Bold indicates 2015 opponent