April 22, 2016
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- No. 17 Penn State men's lacrosse (7-6, 1-3) was edged, 15-14, on the road at No. 19 Rutgers (10-3, 3-1) Friday evening, in a back-and-forth Big Ten outing at High Point Solutions Stadium.
Junior Nick Aponte matched a career-high mark with four goals, adding one assist for five points. Freshman Grant Ament added two goals and a team-high three assists to tie for first on the team with five points.
Redshirt junior Matt Florence registered two goals, while senior TJ Sanders, junior Mike Sutton, junior Dan Craig, freshman Kevin Hill, senior James Burke and freshman Nick Spillane all added one goal apiece.
Junior Billy Lombardi had another career-high outing at the faceoff "x," going 18-for-32, matching a career-best mark with seven ground balls.
Freshman Christopher Sabia logged a career-high four ground balls, while senior Tommy O'Neill totaled three. Sophomore goalie Will Schreiner finished with 10 saves.
"Rutgers is a very good team going from their defense to the offensive end and I thought we provided them just enough of a crack to break it wide open," head coach Jeff Tambroni said. "I give Rutgers credit, but I'm disappointed that we could not just continue to do the little things well through that stretch."
Penn State got out to a fast start, using a 4-0 scoring streak with goals from Sutton, Aponte, Ament and Florence to take an early lead. Rutgers looked to break up the stretch with a goal to make it 4-1 with less than six minutes remaining in the first quarter. Florence answered with his second consecutive goal before Sanders added another just as time expired in the frame to send the Nittany Lions up 6-1 heading into the second quarter.
The Scarlet Knights came storming back, using a 4-0 run spanning 7:25 to pull within one at 6-5 with 8:35 remaining in the second quarter. The Nittany Lions looked to get back on track with a goal from Craig, 7-5, but two more Rutgers goals tied the score at 7-7.
Penn State had already out-scored Rutgers 6-1 in the first quarter, but got out-scored by the Scarlet Knights 6-1 in the second quarter, tying the score at the half.
Penn State came out of the intermission with a 3-0 streak, as goals from Burke, Hill and Aponte lifted the Nittany Lions ahead by three, 10-7 with 11:37 remaining in the third quarter. Rutgers battled back with two goals in between an empty-netter from Ament to pull within three, 11-8.
Spillane and Aponte followed with back-to-back goals to send the Nittany Lions ahead by as many as four, 13-9. The Scarlet Knights quickly responded with two consecutive goals to arrive back within two, 13-11, heading into the final period of play.
The Nittany Lions struggled to regroup, as the Scarlet Knights stretched their streak to a 6-0 run with Rutgers surging to a two-goal lead, 15-13, with 6:18 remaining in the game. Penn State cut the deficit in half with a goal from Aponte with 3:31 left to play, but the Nittany Lions could not add another goal as time expired.
NOTES: Facing their third consecutive ranked opponent, Penn State moves to 3-3 on the year against ranked teams at the time of meeting ... Penn State's last three games have all been decided by one goal, as the Nittany Lions also move to 5-3 on the year when scoring at least 10 goals against their opponent ... Nick Aponte stretches his point-scoring streak to 31 consecutive games, while also turning in his second consecutive game with four goals ... Goalie Will Schreiner posted 10 saves, marking his second straight game with at least 10 saves ... Winning a career-high 18 faceoffs, Billy Lombardi has now won at least 15 faceoffs in the last two games ... The Nittany Lions return the Friendship Cup to the Scarlet Knights having claimed the cup with an 11-6 win in last year's meeting.