Feb. 7, 2015
0-1-0 | 1-0-0 |
| 8 | 15 |
| Holuba Hall | University Park, Pa. | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Feb. 7, 2015 - Two Nittany Lions recorded hat tricks and Connor Darcey (Wellesley, Mass.) earned the first win in the first start of his collegiate career, leading the No. 14/17 Penn State men's lacrosse team to a season-opening 15-8 win over Vermont on Saturday.
Penn State is now 4-1 in season debuts with head coach Jeff Tambroni at the helm.
Eight different Nittany Lions (1-0-0) found the back of the net, led by Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and junior TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario). Alongside two assists, Florence, a redshirt sophomore, opened scoring 2:22 into the game and added a pair of markers on the man-up. Sanders posted the 19th multi-goal game of his career with his trio of goals and he dished out an assist. Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.) turned out a three-point performance with two tallied and an assist. Pat Manley (Arnold, Md.) and Kyle Baier (Auburn, N.Y.) each had two-goal outings, while Nick Aponte (West Islip, N.Y.) recorded a goal and an assist.
Peter Triolo (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Mike Aronow (Holbrook, N.Y.) each caused one turnover. In the first start of his collegiate career, Darcey made 15 saves for the victory.
Penn State went 2-for-4 on man-up opportunities and Vermont was 0-for-3. The Nittany Lions also narrowly edged the Catamounts in faceoffs, 14-13, and led the ground ball race, 33-26. Vermont out-shot Penn State by a 45-40 margin.
Penn State's offensive output was evenly distributed throughout the game. In both the third and fourth quarters, the Blue and White put up four goals and put five past Justin Rosenberg in the opening 15 minutes.
The Nittany Lions opened the inaugural season of Big Ten Lacrosse with a bang, netting four unanswered goals. Tripp Traynor (Downingtown, Pa.) cashed in the first goal of his collegiate career eight minutes into the second quarter and Florence assisted on a Sanders shot less than two-and-a-half minutes later .to put the score at 7-2
The Catamounts (0-1-0) fought their way back, however, cutting Penn State's lead to three with nine minutes left in the third quarter. But the Nittany Lions responded with their second four-goal run of the day for a 13-6 lead with 8:15 remaining in the contest. Each team would add two goals for the final 15-8 score.
The Nittany Lions embark on their first road trip this season when they head to Maryland for a noon game at Loyola on Sat., Feb. 14.