March 11, 2017
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The third-ranked Penn State men's lacrosse team (7-0) tied its best start in program history on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Harvard Crimson (4-1), 15-12, to prolong its win streak to seven straight to open the 2017 season.
The 2017 team's 7-0 start is the best in 25 years for the program, tying that of the 1992 team. Penn State has a chance to break the record for the best start, hosting Fairfield next Friday for a chance to go 8-0 for the first time ever.
The Nittany Lions were led by senior midfield Matt Florence and freshman attackman Mac O'Keefe, as the duo logged a combined six goals on a pair of hat tricks to pace the Penn State goal-scoring efforts.
Outside of Florence and O'Keefe's performances, a trio of Penn State players logged three points in the game. Sophomore attackman Grant Ament and senior midfielder Mike Sutton each scored a pair of goals in the outing while adding an assist. Junior midfielder Ryan Keenan logged a goal and tallied a pair of assists in the Nittany Lions' win.
Nine Penn State players scored in the victory, with senior attackman Nick Aponte, and midfielders Kevin Hill and Nick McEvoy all scoring a goal in the outing. Aponte added an assist. In addition to a team-best two caused turnovers, sophomore defender Chris Sabia scored his first career goal on a fast break during the final 10 seconds of the game.
Senior midfielders Dan Craig and Tyler Chambers each tallied assists in the Penn State win.
Freshman faceoff specialist Gerard Arceri was superb once again, going 22-of-29 at the faceoff 'x', while logging a game-high 14 groundballs.
On the defensive end, Penn State caused seven turnovers, including takeaways from Sabia, Nick Cardille, Tommy Wright and Tripp Traynor. Kneese started his sixth-straight game, making 15 stops en route to his seventh win of the season.
Penn State returns to action on Friday, March 17, when the Nittany Lions play host to Fairfield at 4 p.m. The game is set for national broadcast on ESPNU.
The Turning Point
Harvard made a daunting 3-0 run early in the fourth quarter to pull within one at the 8:11 mark. With 7:19 left to go, O'Keefe dodged from the right wing, beating his defender before picking off the corner for a two-goal lead. The scored triggered a 3-0 run in which he and Keenan both added goals for a 13-9 edge to put Penn State in the driver's seat.
Difference Makers
Penn State
- Mac O'Keefe - O'Keefe scored a team-high three goals including two in a critical stretch to give Penn State a definitive lead in the fourth quarter.
- Matt Florence - Florence buried a season-best three goals for the Nittany Lions, tying for the most on the team during the game.
- Gerard Arceri - Arceri was a game changer at the faceoff 'x', going a strong 22-of-29 at midfield for the Nittany Lions while gathering 14 groundballs, one shy of his career-best.
- Chris Sabia - Sabia led the Penn State defense, causing two turnovers while taking Harvard's Morgan Cheek out of the game, holding the attackman to just two goals while the junior averages four scores a game.
- Man-down unit - The man-down unit stood tall when called upon against the Crimson, allowing just one goal in four opportunities.
Harvard
- J.T. Palladino - Palladino led the Crimson with a game-high five points on three goals and a pair of assists.
- Riding the clear - The Crimson clear defense was the strongest Penn State has faced this season. After failing to clear the ball just three times in 2017 leading up to the game, the Harvard defense forced five turnovers on the Penn State clear.
By Quarters
First Quarter
Harvard opened the scoring in the first, as Peter Blynn found the back of the net at the 11:40 mark. Under a minute later Sutton responded. Florence gave Penn State its first lead of the day, ripping a shot into the back of the net from eight yards out. The Crimson equalized before getting called for an unnecessary roughness call with a hit on O'Keefe. Penn State capitalized on the man-up opportunity, with Ament finding the back of the net on a feed from Craig. The Crimson scored again on a bounce shot with eight seconds left on the clock to tie the game through the first 15 minutes.
Penn State 3, Harvard 3
Second Quarter
Harvard scored to open the frame. Penn State responded quickly, with Aponte kicking it out to Hill for the score. Less than a minute later the Nittany Lions won the faceoff, as Chambers found O'Keefe in space to score the go-ahead goal. Harvard won the next faceoff, but a deft stick save from Kneese kept Harvard off the board. The defense continued to shut down the Crimson, leading to a Harvard timeout with 6:22 remaining in the second. Neither team found the back of the net for the reaminder of the quarter.
Penn State 5, Harvard 4
Third Quarter
Harvard got called for a push and a hold on freshman midfielder Nick McEvoy, but rode out the minute of penalty time. It took half of the quarter for either side to score, before Harvard buried the game-tying goal. Penn State responded, scoring two in a row. McEvoy tallied the first goal, scoring his fourth of the season on a feed from Keenan. Less than a minute later Sutton kicked the ball into the middle of the zone, as Florence finished the shot for his second goal of the day and a two-score lead. Florence posted his third goal of the day with 2:45 left in the third, ripping the shot into the back of the net off the pass from Ament at the x. Ament made it a four-goal lead, as Keenan found the sophomore in space for the score.
Penn State 9, Harvard 5
Fourth Quarter
Harvard opened the fourth with a goal to cut the game to three. Sutton responded, finding the back of the net for the second time against the Crimson. Harvard rattled off three straight scores, forcing a Penn State timeout as the Nittany Lions held a 10-9 lead. O'Keefe stopped the run, dodging from the right wing before picking off the corner of the net. Penn State won the next faceoff before Keenan drove down the alley for a three-goal lead. O'Keefe buried his third goal of the game moments later after gathering a ground ball and dumping in the goal. Harvard's Joe Lang scored off his back foot for a three-goal game with 5:28 left in the game. Aponte fired back, scoring his first goal of the game following a dodge from behind the net to give Penn State the four-goal advantage. Harvard scored a pair of goals before Sabia buried the final goal with nine seconds on the clock.
Penn State 15, Harvard 12
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