April 9, 2015
| JOHNS HOPKINS VS. PENN STATE | |
3-7, 0-2 Big Ten | 4-6, 1-1 Big Ten |
| Saturday, April 11 (6 p.m.) | |
| Homewood Field | Baltimore, Md. | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
| ESPNU / WatchESPN |
| Live Stats |
| Men's Lacrosse Blog |
| Follow Us: @PennStateMLAX | Facebook | Instagram |
| Season Statistics: Penn State | Johns Hopkins |
| Game Notes: Penn State |
| INSIDE THE NUMBERS | ||
| PSU | JHU | |
| 8.90 | Goals per Game | 11.90 |
| 42 | Assists | 73 |
| 31.4 | Shots per Game | 38.1 |
| .283 | Shot Percentage | .312 |
| 10.20 | Goals Against Average | 10.90 |
| 277 | Ground Balls | 292 |
| 46 | Caused Turnovers | 54 |
| .265 | Man-Up % | .455 |
| .710 | Man-Down % | .710 |
| .854 | Clearing % | .859 |
| .540 | Faceoff % | .535 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 9, 2015 - The Nittany Lions are back in Maryland visiting Johns Hopkins on Sat., April 11. The 6 p.m. game will be broadcasted on ESPNU with Booker Corrigan and Mark Dixon on the call.
SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
Johns Hopkins (4-6, 1-1 Big Ten) dropped out of the national polls for the first time this season after a heartbreaking loss to Ohio State on Sunday. Despite a career performance by Ryan Brown, who recorded nine points, the Blue Jays were unable to power past the Buckeyes and lost 15-12. The Nittany Lions will have to contend with a high-powered offense, scoring 11.90 goals per game, the 16th-most nationally. Individually, Brown is averaging at least a hat trick each game (3.60) for third in the NCAA. Johns Hopkins' man-up has also been strong and sits atop the Big Ten at 0.455. Eric Schneider has started every game for the Blue Jays, maintaining a 10.77 goals against average alongside a .434 save percentage. Drew Kennedy, the team's top face-off specialist, has gone 79-of-149 at the 'X', leading a face-off contingent that has won 53.5 percent of its attempts. The Nittany Lions are winless against Hopkins in five games, played between 1916 and 1946.
LOOKING BACK
Penn State (3-7, 0-2 Big Ten) held No. 3 Maryland to four goals in the final 45 minutes of the contest but lost to the Terrapins 12-5 on Saturday. Mike Sutton's seventh multi-goal game, and first career hat trick, accounted for more than half of the Nittany Lions' goals.
ONE OF THE DAY'S FINEST
In the midst of Penn State's fourth quarter four-goal run against Ohio State on March 29, Dan Craig scored a goal that had jaws dropping and the commentators in shock. TJ Sanders put a shot on net and after a Buckeye attempted to pick up the rebound, Craig scooped up the ball behind his back and whipped a horizontal shot behind him into the top right corner of the net. The play was outstanding enough to garner No. 7 on that night's ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 plays. It wasn't the first time this season the Shelburne, Ontario native scored a highlight reel goal. At UMass, Craig retrieved a pass from Sanders in front of the crease, spun around and got off the shot through traffic.
CAREER CLOUT
With their smallest senior class since 2012, the younger members of the 2015 Nittany Lions are stepping up. TJ Sanders' assist total is a personal best. In his first year as a starter, Connor Darcey has set career marks in all goalie categories. Nick Aponte has career highs in goals, assists, points, shots on goal and ground balls. James Chakey and Tyler Chambers have both recorded career best marks in ground balls and caused turnovers. Ryan Guittare's goal, point, ground ball and caused turnover marks are career highs. Drake Kreinz has career bests in shots and caused turnovers. Matt Sexton's goals, shots and ground balls totals are the best of his career, as are Mike Sutton's ground ball, assist and shot marks. Peter Triolo, Tommy O'Neill and Dan Craig also have bests in caused turnovers.
SANDERS THE STALWART
Since joining the Nittany Lions as a freshman in 2013, a Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year campaign, TJ Sanders has been one of Penn State's most reliable attackmen. The Orillia, Ontario native is just the third junior Nittany Lion since 2009 to score 100-or-more points (104) behind Major Lacrosse League players Shane Sturgis (108) and Matt Mackrides (102). Sanders has scored in all but seven games since his debut in the Blue and White, scoring multiple goals in 24 contests, and has netted 20-or-more goals each season in the Blue and White. He is currently sixth in the Big Ten with 2.00 goals per game, seventh with 2.90 points per game and eighth with 0.90 assists per game.
SUTTS IN THE BUCKET
After an abbreviated freshman season, Mike Sutton has returned for his sophomore campaign with a vengeance. The Sewell, N.J. native is second on the team with 17 goals and 20 points. His 1.70 goals per game put him ninth in the Big Ten. He has posted four multi-goal games after three in 2014, and scored his first career hat trick at Maryland.
SAVED!
Connor Darcey has been a stalwart in the cage this season, his first as a starter. The redshirt sophomore is the first goalie since 2011 to make double-digit saves in seven of the season's first eight games. In Penn State's game at Harvard, Darcey made 18 saves, the most for a Nittany Lion since 2012 and the highest number on the day for a Big Ten goalie. In his first collegiate start, against Vermont, Darcey made 15 saves, the most of any Big Ten goalie in action during the day en route to his first collegiate win. His efforts earned him the first-ever Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award. Currently, Darcey ranks second in the Big Ten with 12.20 saves per game, which is ninth nationally.
GOING WITH THE FLO
Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.) has made an immediate impact since transferring to Penn State this year. He has recorded at least one point in nine games this season, amassing 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in eight games played. He had a four-goal outing against Penn and scored a hat trick and added two assists in the season opener against Vermont, the first three-goal performance in a Penn State debut since 2002. He also scored the game's first goal at Loyola and added additional assists against the Greyhounds and at Villanova.
NATIONAL PRIDE
Associate head coach Peter Toner was tabbed as an assistant coach for the 2016 U.S. Men's National Under-19 team. Toner will work under the head coach Nick Myers, who currently serves at the helm of Ohio State's men's lacrosse program. With the announcement, Penn State's three coaches have all served on the coaching staffs of a national team. Head coach Jeff Tambroni was an assistant for the 2014 U.S. men's senior team, and assistant coach Chris Doctor served in the same capacity for the Iroquois Nationals at the 2014 FIL World Championship.
FAMILY TIES
Penn State Lacrosse's expansive 101-year alumni base is bound to produce a few connections among current Nittany Lions, and this year's team is no exception. Matt Florence's father Tom was a goalie at Penn State from 1982-85. J.J. Pearl, who ranks fifth in career saves (557 from 1989-92), is freshman goalie Hunter Pearl's father.
TAMBRONI IN HIS FIFTH SEASON
Guiding the Nittany Lions through the inaugural season of Big Ten Lacrosse, Jeff Tambroni is in his fifth season as Penn State's head coach in 2015. With a 35-24 record, Tambroni has guided his Nittany Lion teams to .500-or-better records in each of his four seasons at the helm.