Feb. 12, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fresh off a victory in its first game of the 2016 season, Penn State men's lacrosse (1-0) returns to action to host Hobart (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. in Holuba Hall.
PROMO PLANS
Penn State fans can pick up free specialty valentines at the door while supplies last. Mix and match or grab a surprise bag featuring seven different Nittany Lion valentines.
SETTING THE SCENE
- Penn State downed Robert Morris 20-7 in last week's 2016 season-opener. 12 different Nittany Lions found the scoring column in the win, including six freshmen. Senior TJ Sanders led the group with four goals, while redshirt junior Matt Florence tallied three
- Grant Ament earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after helping guide the Nittany Lions past the Colonials. Ament is the first Nittany Lion in program history to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and the fourth conference weekly award winner all-time. He recorded two goals and led the team with five assists for a seven-point outing in his collegiate debut in the Blue and White.
- The Nittany Lions and Hobart have one of the longest all-time series histories in Penn State program history, dating back to the first meeting between the two teams in 1914 - PSU's second year as a varsity sport. Saturday's meeting will be the first between the Nittany Lions and the Statesmen since 2009.
- Saturday's game against the Statesmen will be a bit of a homecoming for Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni, who graduated from Hobart in 1992. He earned first-team All-America honors as a senior and was twice named a second-team All-American (1990-91).
- Penn State is receiving votes in both the USILA/Nike 2016 Preseason Coaches' Poll and the Cascade/Maverik DI Men's Media Top 20 poll. The Nittany Lions have matchups set against seven teams ranked within the Top 20 of both polls.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE STATESMEN
SCOUTING HOBART
The Statesmen will open the 2016 season against the Nittany Lions with a squad featuring six starters and 35 letterwinners from last year's team that went 7-7. Hobart finished 2015 with a 4-2 record in conference play, good for second place in the NEC. Senior Cooper Stefaniak will captain the team this year, having played in all 14 games last year finishing fifth on the team in goals (11) and points (14).
SERIES HISTORY vs. HOBART
The Nittany Lions and Hobart have one of the longest all-time series histories in Penn State program history, dating back to the first meeting between the two teams in 1914, PSU's second year as a varsity sport. Saturday's meeting will be the first between the Nittany Lions and the Statesmen since 2009. PSU has claimed wins in four of the last five meetings.
| Last Three vs. Hobart |
| 4/4/2009 | W, 10-8 | H |
| 4/5/2008 | L, 8-6 | A |
| 4/7/2007 | L,12-7 | H |
ALUMNI RELATIONS
Saturday's game against the Statesmen will be a bit of a homecoming for Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni, who graduated from Hobart in 1992. He earned first-team All-America honors as a senior and was twice named a second-team All-American (1990-91). The MVP of the 1990 NCAA title game, Tambroni helped lead the team to back-to-back NCAA championships (1990-91) and left Hobart tied for seventh on the school's all-time scoring list with 202 points. Early in his career, Tambroni also spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the Statesmen, helping the program reach the 1994 NCAA Division III national championship game.
AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
All 16 Nittany Lion freshmen saw action in Penn State's 2016 season-opening victory against Robert Morris last week. Making an immediate impact, the newcomers combined for seven goals and six assists, accounting for 35 percent of the goal scoring against the Colonials.
After earning a spot in the starting lineup at attack, Grant Ament led a group of six rookie goal scorers with two goals and a team-high five assists. Matt Donnelly, Robby Black, Nick Spillane, Kevin Fox and Jimmy Nowoswiat all registered one goal each. Defensively, Christopher Sabia made his first collegiate start at defense, tallying three ground balls. Will Schreiner earned the start for Penn State in the net, totaling six saves in a little more than 40 minutes in goal. Trevor Scollins also saw action in goal, notching two saves in 10:50 seconds between the pipes.
"The freshmen made an immediate impact," Nittany Lion head coach Jeff Tambroni said. "For Grant Ament and Chris Sabia to come out here and play with the poise that they did, says a lot about their character and a lot about the guys around them too."
AMENT EARNS BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARD
Penn State's Grant Ament earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after helping guide the Nittany Lions to a 20-7 victory against Robert Morris. Ament is the first Nittany Lion in program history to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and the fourth conference weekly award winner all-time.
Ament recorded two goals and led the team with five assists for a seven-point outing in his collegiate debut in the Blue and White against the Colonials. He put away his first collegiate goal in the first quarter, just one minute after registering his first collegiate assist. After tallying four consecutive assists in the second quarter, he closed out the afternoon with Penn State's 17th goal of the game for a multi-goal outing against Robert Morris.
SANDERS SCORES MILESTONE GOAL
With a team-high four goals in Penn State's win against Robert Morris, senior TJ Sanders notched his 100th career goal. He joins an elite group as just the seventh Nittany Lion all-time to amass 100 career goals. As the first Nittany Lion to hit the mark since Jack Forster in 2013, his 100 career goals ranks fifth in the record book.
PSU PICKED FOURTH IN B1G COACHES POLL
Penn State has been voted fourth in the 2016 Big Ten Preseason Coaches' Poll with Nittany Lions redshirt juniors Matt Florence, Drake Kreinz and senior TJ Sanders named Penn State's Players to Watch. Johns Hopkins claimed the top spot in the 2016 poll with a unanimous selection from the league's head coaches. Maryland and Ohio State rounded out the top three at spots two and three, respectively. Michigan and Rutgers were selected fifth and sixth.
BIG TEN PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH
Redshirt seniors Matt Florence and Drake Kreinz and senior TJ Sanders earned Penn State Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch honors. The preseason nod is the second straight for Kreinz and Sanders, who both earned 2015 Player to Watch honors prior to the inaugural season of Big Ten lacrosse. Florence earns his first career Big Ten preseason honor, having capped off the season with Big Ten All-Tournament team honors. A 2015 Academic All-Big Ten selection, Kreinz served once again as Penn State's top faceoff specialist in 2015, playing in 13 of 14 games. A USILA All-America honorable mention, Sanders returns as one of the Nittany Lions' top offensive contributors in 2016, having earned both All-Big Ten honorable mention distinction and Academic All-Big Ten awards last year.
RECEIVING VOTES
The Nittany Lions are receiving votes in both the USILA Coaches Poll as well as the Inside Lacrosse Cascade/Maverik Media Poll. Including Penn State, four of the six Big Ten teams are either ranked or receiving votes in both polls. Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Ohio State are also ranked within the top 15 of each poll, with the Terps slotted the highest at No. 4 in both media polls.
TRIO TO LEAD AS 2016 CAPTAINS
A trio of midfielders will lead the team during its 2016 campaign. Seniors Tommy O'Neill and James Burke and redshirt junior Drake Kreinz have been voted as captains. The process for choosing captains has remained unchanged for years and Jeff Tambroni is confident in the system he has in place.
"There are a number of different factors going into the captains process," Tambroni said. "One is a consensus vote from last year's team, we want to get exiting seniors, graduating seniors opinions on who they believe will lead this team most effectively."
After the team vote, Tambroni and fellow assistant coaches evaluate upperclassmen during the fall semester before making a final decision. Penn State men's lacrosse has experimented with the number of captains the team has every year. In 2014 three seniors led the team but in 2015 the task fell solely on senior Kyle Zittel.
TAMBRONI SIGNS 11 TO NLI
Jeff Tambroni has announced the signing of 11 newcomers to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period. From U.S. Lacrosse All-Americans and MVPs to state champions and honor roll athletes, this year's class features a talented group poised to join the Nittany Lions in 2016.
Gerard Arceri (Saint James, N.Y.), Nick Cardile (West Grove, Pa.), TJ Connellan (Cazenovia, N.Y.), Colby Kneese (Dallas, Texas), Nick McEvoy (Bethesda, Md.), Mac O'Keefe (Syosset, N.Y.), Kane Randolph (Annapolis, Md.), Jack Rusboldt (Richmond, Va.), Mitch Schaefer (Canandaigua, N.Y.), Conor Smith (West Islip, N.Y.) and Barrett Sutley (Stevenson, Md.) are all set to arrive in Happy Valley.
Three of the signees are ranked within Inside Lacrosse's list of top 25 recruits with Arceri ranked No. 11, O'Keefe tabbed No. 23 and McEvoy slotted No. 25.
UP NEXT
Penn State hits the road next weekend for its first roadtrip of the 2016 season. The Nittany Lions are set to travel to Cornell to square off against the Big Red Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. Prior to Penn State, Nittany Lion head coach Jeff Tambroni served as head coach at Cornell from 2001-10. The trip to Upstate New York to take on the Big Red marks the first time Tambroni will return to coach against Cornell as head coach at Penn State.