March 8, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Big Ten announced its weekly award winners on Tuesday afternoon, with Penn State men's lacrosse sophomore midfielder Nick Spillane earning the league's Offensive Player of the Week award, while freshman faceoff man Gerard Arceri logged his second career nod for Specialist of the Week.
Penn State has had at least one Big Ten weekly award winner in each of the five weeks during the 2017 season.
Spillane earned his first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor following a career day, scoring five goals to lead Penn State past then-No. 8 Penn. He added a pair of groundballs in the victory as well.
Spillane currently ranks third on Penn State's team and fourth in the Big Ten in goals scored with 13 in 2017. He added seven assists for 20 points, good for fourth on the team. Spillane has been on a hot streak as of late, scoring seven goals in his last two games, one more than his first four games of the season combined.
While #PSUMLAX played Furman, the B1G named its weekly honors - Nick Spillane was Offensive POTW, while Gerard Arceri was the specialist. pic.twitter.com/CAsAIMo7il
- Penn State Lacrosse (@PennStateMLAX) March 8, 2017
Arceri logged his second Specialist of the Week honor of the season after going 24-of-31 from the faceoff 'x' against Penn and collecting 15 groundballs in the process. The 24 faceoff wins and 15 groundballs both marked career highs for the freshman, and he added a goal in transition in the 14-13 win.
Arceri leads Penn State in faceoff wins, going 106-157 from the 'x' this season, while also racking up a team-high 57 ground balls. He leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the nation in ground balls (10.60 per game), and ranks second in the conference and fourth nationally in faceoff percentage (.683).
The No. 3 Nittany Lions (6-0) return to action this Saturday, facing undefeated Harvard (4-0) at noon in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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