March 17, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The eighth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions welcome Rutgers to Happy Valley to open Big Ten Conference play with a 1 p.m. affair on Saturday afternoon at the Penn State Lacrosse Field.
THE MATCH-UP
- The team's first met in 1978 and continued to meet each year through 1989, but only met once over the next 25 years before the formation of the Big Ten Conference.
- Penn State leads the all-time series 17-0 including going 3-0 in the most recent history since 2014.
- Penn State is outscoring Rutgers 295-76 in the all-time series and are averaging 17.35 goals per game over the previous 17 matchups.
MINOR SETBACK
- Penn State dropped its first game of the season on Sunday, 16-11, against a tough Colorado team.
- The loss was the first for Penn State when leading at halftime, which they have held each game so far this season.
- Penn State also gave up 15+ goals for the first time in over a year since allowing JMU to score 17 times on March 9, 2016. It was just the second time all season an opponent has recorded 10 or more goals against the Nittany Lions.
B1G LEADERS
- Senior Steph Lazo leads the Big Ten and is fourth in the country in both points (42) and assists (20) while sophomore Madison Carter paces the conference with 26 goals, good for tenth in the nation.
- The scoring trio of Lazo, Carter and junior Katie O'Donnell has combined for 69 goals this season as each have potted 20+ goals through the midway point of the season.
POSSESSION IS KEY
- Penn State was on the wrong end of the draw control battle in their loss against Colorado for just the second time all season and it cost them as they were unable to stop the Buffaloes momentum early in the second half.
- The Nittany Lions continue to pace the Big Ten as they average 15.25 draws per game, which is 11th in the nation. PSU is led by Carter who averages 6.25 on her own to lead the conference and rank eighth in the nation.
SCORE MORE
- Penn State is second in the Big ten behind Maryland in scoring offense as they average 14.25 goals per game a mark good for 18th in the country.
- Penn State has scored 10 or more goals in all but one of their games so far this season.
FIRST HALF DOMINANCE
- Penn State has scored first in six out of their eight games so far this season and are outscoring their opponents 61-32 over the first 30 minutes of play.
- The Nittany Lions have held the first half lead in each contest so far this season and last Sunday was their first loss when holding the halftime edge.
ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
- Rutgers is riding a three-game win streak including a 12-9 victory over then-No. 18 JMU last weekend. Most recently, the Scarlet Knights defeated Manhattan, 15-5, on Wednesday.
- Kristina Dunphey and Amanda Turturro lead the team with 22 points each on 13 goals and nine assists and 11 goals and 11 assists, respectively. Nicole Kopyta leads the team with 17 goals.
- Rutgers is just barely outscoring their opponents this season thanks to Wednesday's victory as they have score 88 goals and allowed 84 so far this season.
- Between the pipes is Bianca Dente who has secured a 5-3 record with a 10.54 goals against average and a .486 save percentage. Dente also leads the team with 20 ground balls.
NEXT UP
Penn State hits the road for a mid-week matchup with No. 6 Princeton at 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.