Jan. 9, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) released the USILA/Nike 2017 Coaches preseason poll on Monday afternoon, with Penn State men's lacrosse entering the season ranked No. 15 in the season's opening poll.
Penn State is one of five teams from the Big Ten represented in the poll. Maryland enters the season ranked second; Johns Hopkins is tied for eighth, while Rutgers and Ohio State trail Penn State, ranked 16th and 17th, respectively.
Penn State, ranked No. 16 by Inside Lacrosse's Face-Off Yearbook released earlier last month, was predicted to finish third in the conference by the publication. Senior attackman Nick Aponte was named to the Inside Lacrosse preseason all-conference team last week.
The 2017 team returns a host of players from the year prior including eight players who started each game of the 2016 season. Among the familiar names are last year's goals leader in Aponte and the team's assists and points leader in sophomore Grant Ament. Penn State's primary defensive trio of junior Mike Aronow, senior Peter Triolo and sophomore Christopher Sabia all return along with last season's primary goalkeeper junior Will Schreiner.
Penn State begins the regular season in University Park against Robert Morris on Saturday, February 3, at 3 p.m.
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USILA/NIKE Division I Men's Lacrosse Coaches Preseason Poll
Rank Team Record Score Previous Week
1 North Carolina 341(8)
2 Maryland 331(4)
3 Denver 320(6)
4 Notre Dame 298
5 Syracuse 256
6 Loyola 253
7 Duke 242
8T Johns Hopkins 210
8T Yale 210
10 Navy 190
11 Brown 170
12 Towson 145
13 Albany 132
14 Virginia 128
15 PENN STATE 104
16 Rutgers 76
17 Ohio State 52
18 Marquette 49
19 Air Force 45
20 Fairfield 42
Also receiving votes: Villanova, Penn, Army, Richmond, Cornell, Stony Brook, Georgetown, Bucknell, Harvard, Boston U, Quinnipiac, Hobart, Vermont, Colgate, St. Joseph's
Season opponents in bold