Feb. 26, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's lacrosse (3-0) returns home from the road to host Villanova (0-1) Saturday, Feb. 27. Opening faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Penn State Lacrosse field, marking the first outdoor matchup for the Nittany Lions this season.
PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Saturday marks Penn State's Lacrosse for Literacy Day, where the Nittany Lions will host their third annual book drive at the game. Paired up with Corl Street Elementary, Penn State men's lacrosse will collect new and gently used books throughout the game to donate to the Corl Street Elementary Library in State College. Nittany Lion fans may also pick up a free Penn State men's lacrosse bookmark at the game.
SETTING THE SCENE
- The Nittany Lions are out to their best start since 2002 at 3-0 after earning an 8-7 road-win at No. 18/15 Cornell last week. In a back-and-forth battle, Penn State held off the Big Red with a clutch go-ahead goal from redshirt junior Matt Florence with less than three minutes to play.
- Penn State owns a 16-5 advantage in the all-time series against Villanova, having claimed wins in the first 10 meetings from 1990 to 2001. The Nittany Lions and the Wildcats have met in the non-conference portion of the season in each of the last eight years with Villanova capturing wins in three of the last five most recent meetings. Each of the last three games have been decided by an average of just over two goals per game.
- Penn State made significant movement in the polls this week, rising nearly five spots to No. 15 via the USILA Coaches Poll and No. 12 via the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
- Penn State's Will Schreiner earned Big Ten Specialist of the Week honors this week. Schreiner logged seven saves in Penn State's thrilling 8-7 victory against the Big Red to become the first Nittany Lion in program history to earn Big Ten Specialist of the Week honors.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE WILDCATS
SCOUTING VILLANOVA
Villanova enters Saturday's matchup looking to rebound from a 13-12 OT loss at then-No. 17 Harvard in its 2016 season opener last week. Despite the outcome, Wildcat sophomore Luke Palmadesso earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors, after winning 20-of-28 face-offs to go along with a career-high 11 ground balls against the Crimson. On the year, Villanova welcomes back 29 letterwinners from last year, including seven of their top nine point-scorers.
| Last Three vs. Villanova |
| 2/21/2015 | L, 11-7 | A |
| 3/29/2014 | L, 9-7 | H |
| 3/30/2013 | W, 7-6 | A |
SERIES HISTORY vs. VILLANOVA
Penn State owns a 16-5 advantage in the all-time series against Villanova, having claimed wins in each of the first 10 meetings from 1990 to 2001. The Nittany Lions and the Wildcats have met in the non-conference portion of the season in each of the last eight years with Villanova capturing wins in three of the last five most recent meetings. Each of the last three games have been decided by an average of just over two goals per game.
3-0
Following Penn State's 8-7 win on the road at No. 18 Cornell, the Nittany Lions improved to 3-0 on the year, marking the best start for the program since 2002. The 3-0 start is a first for head coach Jeff Tambroni, who has directed the Nittany Lions to back-to-back wins at the start of the season twice in the last four years.
SCHREINER EARNS BIG TEN LAUREL
Penn State's Will Schreiner has been selected as the Big Ten Specialist of the Week. Schreiner helped direct the Nittany Lions to their third straight victory on the road at No. 18/15 Cornell to become the first Nittany Lion in program history to earn Big Ten Specialist of the Week honors.
Schreiner logged seven saves in Penn State's thrilling 8-7 victory against the Big Red, marking the team's first win over a nationally ranked opponent this season. He registered three saves in the fourth quarter alone, including one huge save in the final minute of the game to keep the Nittany Lions on top for the win. He also led the team with three ground balls.
DUO NAMED TO TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
Penn State's Nick Aponte and TJ Sanders have been named to the 2016 Tewaaraton Award watch list. The Nittany Lion duo is among the top players across all three divisions of NCAA Lacrosse to be recognized as early contenders for the prestigious award, presented by Under Armour. The Tewaaraton Award, annually honors the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. On April 28, the field will be narrowed to 25 men's and 25 women's nominees.
GOALS ON GOALS ON GOALS
Penn State is outscoring its opponents 45-26 on the year, with a scoring offense that's ranked 10th nationally and second in the Big Ten conference, averaging 15.00 goals per game.
The Nittany Lions' 45 goals to date are the most since Penn State totaled 46 in the first three games of the 1992 season. Penn State scored 37 goals in just the first two games of the season, marking the most amount of goals in the first two games of the season in program history. The 37 goals were the most since Penn State scored 36 in the first two games of the 1987 season and the first 30-plus scoring through two games since the NIttany Lions had 33 goals in 2013.
FORCE OF THE FROSH
Through three games, the Nittany Lion newcomers have continued to make their mark, contributing 12 goals and 13 assists in three outings for nearly 30 percent ot the team's total goal-scoring on the year.
In the road-win at Cornell, Grant Ament logged his third straight multi-assist outing, leading the team with two helpers. Kevin Fox also tallied one goal during the Nittany Lions' 5-0 third-quarter surge.
Against Hobart, Ament recorded his first collegiate hat trick with three goals against Hobart, while also tallying a pair of assists for a team-high five points. Chris Sabia also led the team with three caused turnovers.
All 16 Nittany Lion freshmen saw action in Penn State's 2016 season-opening victory against Robert Morris. Making the most of their debuts, a total of six newcomers combined for seven goals and six assists. Defensively, Sabia made his first collegiate start at defense, tallying three ground balls. Trevor Scollins also saw action in goal, notching two saves in 10:50 seconds between the pipes.
"The freshmen made an immediate impact," Tambroni said following the win over Robert Morris. "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."
LAST TIME OUT: PENN STATE HOLDS OFF CORNELL, 8-7
Cornell jumped out to a fast start, scoring two quick goals, including one just five seconds of the game to take over an early lead. Mike Sutton and Matt Florence responded for the Nittany Lions to tie the score, 2-2 with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter. Penn State and Cornell kept it close in the second quarter until the Big Red broke open the tied score with a goal to pull ahead 3-2 as time expired in the first half.
The Nittany Lions came out of the intermission firing, using a 5-0 scoring streak to take control. James Chakey opened the stretch, followed by back-to-back goals from TJ Sanders. Kevin Fox and Ryan Keenan followed with a pair of goals to widen the advantage to four, 7-3 with 2:41 left in the third quarter.
The Big Red came storming back with four consecutive goals, scoring the last two 38 seconds apart to knot the score, 7-7 with 5:13 left in the game. Florence came through in the clutch with his second goal of the afternoon to send the Nittany Lions ahead for good, 8-7.
MOVING ON UP IN THE POLLS!
Since entering both the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Polls last week, the Nittany Lions made significant movement in the polls following the road-win at Cornell. PSU moved up to No. 12 via Inside Lacrosse and up to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll this week.
The Nittany Lions opened the season receiving votes in both polls and earned a No. 20/19 ranking last week. Penn State was ranked within the Top 20 of both polls for the first three weeks of the 2015 season, spending the first two weeks at No. 14/17.
Including Penn State, five of six Big Ten teams are either ranked or receiving votes in both polls. Maryland and Johns Hopkins are also ranked within the top 10 of each poll, with the Terps slotted the highest at No. 4/No. 5 in both polls.
BIG TEN NETWORK ANNOUNCES 2016 TV SLATE
Penn State men's lacrosse is set for six appearances live on national television during the 2016 season, as announced by the Big Ten conference this morning. The Big Ten Network has announced that it will broadcast more than 65 men's and women's lacrosse games in 2016, while also providing live coverage of both the 2016 Big Ten Men's and Women's Lacrosse Tournaments. Including two showings on ESPNU, all of Penn State's Big Ten conference matchups will appear on TV during the 2016 season.
UP NEXT
Penn State hits the road next week for a pair of spring break matchups on the road. First up, the Nittany Lions travel to Penn to square off against the Quakers Saturday, March 5 at noon. Penn State remains on the road, traveling south to take on Furman in a midweek matchup Tuesday, March 8 at noon.
| SEASON NOTES |
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.
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.