March 23, 2018
By Erin Neri, GoPSUsports.com student staff writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Headed toward the final nonconference outing of the season, Penn State men's lacrosse in honing in on fine tuning its offensive identity.
Although the unit has been thriving in its most recent outings, scoring a combined 50 goals in the last four games on the road, Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni is looking for more regularity out of some of his offensive Nittany Lions.
"In the offensive end we're still trying to find the consistency of one or two guys that are just premiere, go-to guys," Tambroni said. "That will allow everyone else to kind of relax [and] play the way they're capable of."
While it's not an ideal situation for Tambroni, the occasional lack in consistency has given rise to some clutch performances. One of the most notable Nittany Lions being redshirt sophomore attacker, Dylan Foulds.
"He has a wonderful work ethic both on and off the field," Tambroni said. "He's an easy guy to coach because there's no distractions, no fluff, what you see is what you get."
Foulds' hard work in the offseason has allowed him to become one of the team's top four scorers, with nine goals and seven assists.
While Foulds noted he feels comfortable in his new role within the offense, he also added it takes a group effort to get goals in the back of the net.
"I think I do a pretty decent job [of playing off the ball]," Foulds said. "I have a lot of background in that from playing in Canada and offense in general, of just being aware and a threat even when [I] don't have the ball. As an offense it's pretty easy to be good off-ball when you have four or five guys working as a unit, so playing together [makes it a lot easier]."
On the other side of the field, Tambroni feels as though the defense has been able to hold its own against several very tough opponents.
Unlike Penn State's offense, the defensive unit features strong leadership in experienced Nittany Lions like redshirt junior Mike Aronow and junior Chris Sabia. This veteran guidance has allowed the unit to find stability early in the season.
"I think defensively we're just a little bit more mature," Tambroni said. "I think the group back there has been our most consistent group. I think they've grown each and every week and have given us a chance to win in every game thus far. We're more hopeful that they continue their trend of consistency and tighten up in certain areas [instead of any] drastic changes."
A quick glance at the first half of the year shows a bit of a pattern when it comes to results for the Nittany Lions. Looking at the schedule, after Penn State loses a game, it returns with back-to-back wins.
While the Nittany Lions have played a tough nonconference schedule in the first half of the season, it will only get more challenging from here on out. Headed toward Big Ten play in just over a week, Tambroni noted this trend in the team's focus and skill will not be enough against conference teams like Johns Hopkins and Maryland.
"I do think we faced some teams prior to the Big Ten that are just as competitive, if not more, than some of the teams we will play," Tambroni said. "We can ill-afford to have complacency and hunger, complacency and hunger on alternating weeks. We have to lock it down and make sure each and every week there's a little more consistency, to our focus, to our game planning [and] to the details of our practice."
While getting ready to face some of the best teams in the country, the adversity the Nittany Lions have already faced in the nonconference stretch will only make them stronger for what's ahead.
"The beauty of playing a competitive non-league schedule is that we will be prepared and more battle tested," Tambroni said. "We've gone through some adversity [and] I think if we can reflect back and learn from that, I think we will be seasoned and prepared for those challenges."