Feb. 5, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State is set to open the 103rd season of Nittany Lion lacrosse, hosting Robert Morris in the 2016 season opener Saturday, Feb. 6 at noon in Holuba Hall.
SETTING THE SCENE
- The Nittany Lions were voted fourth in the Big Ten conference preseason poll with senior TJ Sanders and redshirt juniors Drake Kreinz and Matt Florence picking up Penn State Player to Watch honors.
- 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.
- Nittany Lion seniors Tommy O'Neill, James Burke and redshirt junior Drake Kreinz will serve as team captains for the 2016 season.
- Penn State is 20-17 all-time in season openers and 4-1 under sixth-year head coach Jeff Tambroni. Last year, the Nittany Lions downed Vermont,15-8 to improve to 10-5 at home in yearly openers.
- The Nittany Lions return eight starters and 27 letterwinners from last year's squad that qualified for the first-ever Big Ten Tournament. Key returners include all five top offensive contributors including USILA All-America honorable mention TJ Sanders. The Nittany Lions also return veteran leaders in the midfield and at defense with seniors James Chakey, Tommy O'Neill and James Burke leading the way.
- The 2016 Penn State schedule features eight home games, including matchups against five teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament, as well as a neutral site meeting against defending national champion Denver.
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SNAPSHOT: LOOKING BACK AT 2015
2015 was a historic season for Penn State men's lacrosse as the team kicked off its first official year of participation in the Big Ten conference. The Nittany Lions opened the season with a non-conference upset win over No. 16/11 Penn and earned a pair of Big Ten wins over Rutgers and Michigan to qualify for the first ever Big Ten Tournament.
HOME SWEET HOME
The 2016 Penn State men's lacrosse schedule features double the home dates this season as the Nittany Lions are set to welcome eight opponents to University Park this year. PSU hosts back-to-back games at home in the first two weeks of the season for the first time since 2014, hosting Robert Morris and Hobart. Other non-conference dates include Villanova (2/27), Harvard (3/12) and UMASS (3/19). The Big Ten slate is also set to take place mostly at home with Penn State hosting Maryland (4/10), Johns Hopkins (4/17) and Michigan (4/30).
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.
PENN STATE IN SEASON OPENERS
The Nittany Lions have won each of their last three season opening games, having downed Vermont 15-8 in the first outing of the 2015 season.
| Season Opener Stats |
| Overall (Since 1978) | 20-17 |
| Home (Since 1978) | 10-5 |
| Home (Since 1978) | 10-11 |
| Neutral (Since 1978) | 0-1 |
| Under Tambroni | 4-1 |
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.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE COLONIALS
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
The Colonials posted a 3-11 record last year, including a 2-4 mark in conference play. Matt Bukovac, Marshall Gibson and James Rahe will guide the Colonials into the 2016 season as captains this season. A two-time All-NEC second team selection, Rahe started in all but one of the team's 14 games last year, finishing the season with 17 goals and 19 assists for 36 points. Rahe was among a group of four Colonials to earn All-NEC recognition last year. Other honorees include Luke Laszkiewicz, Eric Rankel and Carter Yepsen, who all return this year. Together, the four were responsible for more than 60 percent of the team's goal scoring (83-133).
| Last Three vs. Robert Morris |
| 2/16/2008 | W, 18-2 | H |
| 2/14/2009 | L, 12-11 2OT | A |
| 2/20/2010 | L, 24-17 | H |
SERIES HISTORY vs. ROBERT MORRIS
Penn State and Robert Morris have met just three times in program history, with the first meeting dating back to Feb. 16, 2008. Penn State claimed an 18-2 win in the first ever outing, but Robert Morris has since claimed wins in the last two consecutive meetings.
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.
WHO'S BACK?
Penn State returns nearly all of its offensive production from last year, including Nittany Lion top scorer and USILA All-America honorable mention, TJ Sanders, who led the team with 29 goals and 13 assists in 2015 for a team-high 42 points. Mike Sutton also joins Sanders as one of two 20-plus goal scorers from last year. Sutton closed out the year second on the team with 24 goals, including eight multi-goal outings. Both Sanders and Sutton both earned 2015 All-Big Ten honorable mention distinction.
Another top returner at attack is Nick Aponte, who transitioned from midfield to attack late in 2015 season. Prior to the move, Penn State averaged 8.9 goals per game, but since transitioning in the first meeting against Johns Hopkins (4/17), the team improved to 10.33 goals per game, with Aponte highlighting the remainder of the season with three goals and one assist for four points in a close 10-9 victory against Michigan.
In the midfield, Penn State returns Big Ten All-Tournament Team honoree Matt Florence, who finished third on the team with 16 goals in 2015. Also moving positions last year and returning is Dan Craig, who transitioned from attack to the midfield mid-year. He scored 11 goals and finished second on the team with nine assists. Craig also enters the 2016 season with at least one goal in the last four consecutive games. Other returners at midfield include Brian Prestreau and Chris Young. Prestreau saw action in 13 of 14 games, notching five goals including one in each of the last two games of the season.
At defensive midfield, the Nittany Lions have a veteran crew of seniors: James Burke, Tommy O'Neill and James Chakey, with Burke at the longstick. Burke registered a team-high12 caused turnovers to go along
with 34 ground balls. Defensively speaking, Penn State has Peter Triolo returning at close defense, who played in 13 games, starting the final 10.
Penn State is also solid at the faceoff "X" with returner Drake Kreinz who finished 129-237 on the year with a .544 winning clip.
WHO'S GONE?
Penn State is tasked with replacing standout goalie Connor Darcey, who passed away suddenly last summer. Darcey played all 14 games, recorded 176 saves with a .553 save percentage on the year. The Nittany Lions also saw departures from defenseman JP Burnside and Pat Manley at attack. Manley played in 13 of 14 games, tallying 12 goals and six assists for 18 points.
WHO'S NEW?
Ranked No.12 nationally by Inside Lacrosse, Penn State welcomes 16 newcomers in its freshmen class this year. The class includes five All-Americans, eight all-conference honorees, three all-league picks and a Canadian national champion. Defenseman Tommy Wright was slotted No. 12 in Inside Lacrosse's Power 100 Freshman Rankings while attackman Grant Ament came in at No. 31. Midfielder Drew Petkevich was slated No. 67, while Kevin Hill (midfield) and Robby Black (midfield) rounded out the group at No. 81 and No. 93, respectively.
UP NEXT
Penn State remains home next week, hosting Hobart Saturday, Feb. 13 a noon. 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. Saturday's meeting will be the first between the Nittany Lions and the Statesmen since 2009. PSU head coach Jeff Tambroni also 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).