March 30, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's lacrosse team opens conference play in Columbus, Ohio as they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first game of Big Ten league play on Saturday, March 31 at 3 p.m.
The game will be aired on ESPNU and will be played in the Ohio Stadium, more commonly called "The Shoe," for its horseshoe-shaped design.
LAST TIME OUT
The Penn State men's lacrosse team took down the visiting Cleveland State Viking, 16-5, in the Nittany Lions' final nonconference game of the season on Saturday afternoon at Panzer Stadium.
Penn State, 6-3 on the year, used a well-rounded offensive performance on Saturday afternoon to take down the Vikings as 10 different Nittany Lions' were able to find the back of the cage.
Redshirt sophomore Dylan Foulds, who combined for eight goals over his last two games, put up a team-high four goals, including two man-up. The attackman also added an assist to his stat line.
Junior Nick Spillane served as the distributor on the afternoon, racking up four assists, while finding the back of the net for two goals of his own. He finished with a team-best six points and added one caused turnover to his stat line.
Senior Tanner Peck put together the first multi-goal game of his career as he was able to score on two occasions, both unassisted on roll dodge goals.
Sophomore Mac O'Keefe found the cage twice in the game, including a halftime buzzer beater. He also added an assist, two ground balls, and a caused turnover.
Penn State also got a multi-point performance from short stick defensive middie Nick McEvoy, who recorded a goal and an assist on the afternoon.
The scoring was rounded out by goals from Matt Donnelly, Cole Willard, Brian Townsend, Robby Black, and Nick Cardile. Cardile's goal was the first of his career. Junior Ryan Keenan and senior Tripp Traynor added assists for Penn State.
Traynor and Cardile both finished the game with two caused turnovers to lead the team, while Traynor, a short stick defensive middie, scooped up three ground balls, and Cardile, a long-stick middie, added two.
In the cage for Penn State, sophomore Colby Kneese recorded eight saves in just over 50 minutes of action, while junior Trevor Scollins recorded one save. Both goalies added two ground balls as well. Kneese finishes nonconference play with a 6-2 record protecting the net.
Defense Shines in Cleveland State Win
All season long though, Tambroni has placed a great deal of importance on getting the team to play as one cohesive unit. During Saturday's outing, Penn State's defense perfectly executed what the coaching staff has been waiting to see.
"I thought our defense did a better job of just playing together," Tambroni said. "Not just one guy had to do anything in particular, it was about just getting seven guys to do a better job of connecting with one another and I thought they did a really nice job in the second half."
Although the score was 6-4 in Penn State's favor at the end of the first half, associate head coach Peter Toner knew the Nittany Lion defense could be better. During halftime, he and the team went over key adjustments, which then resulted in a nearly flawless second half.
One of the standouts from the defensive unit was sophomore Nick Cardile. Not only did he defend well against a hardworking Vikings offense, but even netted a goal of his own in the fourth quarter. Along with fellow veterans in his defensive unit, Cardile is confident Penn State can continue the momentum headed to Big Ten play.
"Coming out of halftime, the defense really put their foot down," Cardile said. "We came together and said we can't let this happen and especially moving on forward, if our offense isn't playing as well we're going to have to put our foot down."
ARCERI, SABIA NAMED INSIDE LACROSSE MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Gerard Arceri and Chris Sabia were both named to the Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-American teams. Arceri was named to the third team at the face-off, while Sabia was named an honorable mention defenseman.
AMENT, ARCERI NAMED TO TEWAARATON WATCH LIST
Junior Grant Ament was named to the first edition of the Tewaraaton Watch List. The list includes the top players across all three divisions of NCAA lacrosse and highlights the early contenders for the 2018 Tewaaraton Award.
Ament, who has yet to play a game in the 2018 season, recorded 30 goals and 30 assists in 2017 to lead the Nittany Lions.
Arceri was named to the watch list after the first round of additions. Arceri is arguably one of the top three faceoff specialists in the nation and ranks in the top three in all faceoff specific categories.
NITTANY LIONS SHIFTING FOCUS INWARD
Every Monday the coaching staff meets with the team to reflect on their individual performances from the weekend. During this week's session, the Nittany Lions were eager to add to the conversation and bring focus to the areas they feel they need to improve upon.
"There were several decent plays that were made throughout the course of the game, we just didn't connect enough of them," Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni said. "It was tough. When we talked to our guys about things that needed to be worked on, plenty of hands went up, so it was nice to see our guys have a decent understanding about what needs to be done this week."
Although the team fell short executing plays successfully throughout the game, one positive to emerge was their consistent level of hard work. Throughout several momentum shifts, the Nittany Lions refused to give up or deviate from their style of blue-collar lacrosse.
Full Article: Here
NITTANY LIONS BUILDING IN DEPTH
The Nittany Lions present a menacing starting lineup on both attack and defense that can cause problems for many teams. Beyond their starters though, there are a lot of question marks on both sides of the ball at an early point in the season.
The challenge for Tambroni and his staff is motivating the rest of the team to step up and make meaningful contributions.
"Inevitably, every student-athlete wants to play, everybody wants to contribute on game day because they work so hard," Tambroni said. "The onus falls on Jeff Tambroni. It's my job to make sure there's a grander purpose than coming in here and playing. There's got to be a reason why these guys come here."
Although the message starts with the coaching staff, it is then on the team to uphold it in the locker room and on the field.
Headed into its fourth matchup of the year, Tambroni hopes this is a point of significance that Penn State can buy into.
"We have to provide that purpose and perspective that it's more about being a part of something bigger than yourself, about the preparation over four years and about being great teammates," Tambroni said. "If these guys can encapsulate that perspective, it makes it a little bit easier."
Full article: HERE
PENN STATE ON BTN
Penn State will be featured on the Big Ten Network four times, along with two ESPNU coverages which were announced earlier this month.
The Nittany Lions will be the first game of the season to be aired on BTN as Penn State's contest against Stony Brook on Saturday, February 17 will be aired live at 2 p.m. ET.
Penn State will also be on BTN for their conference games against Maryland, Rutgers, and Michigan.
The Terrapins will come to Happy Valley on Sunday, April 8 for a 7 p.m. game, and the Nittany Lions' home ‘Senior Day' contest against Michigan on April 28 at 11 a.m. will also be aired. The Michigan game will be a Penn State doubleheader as the women's lacrosse team will also take on Michigan for their ‘Senior Day' and will be aired at 2 p.m.
Penn State's road trip to Rutgers will be on BTN at 7 p.m. on April 22.
PSU ON ESPNU
ESPN announced its spring lacrosse television schedule on Wednesday evening with Penn State men's lacrosse receiving national coverage on ESPNU twice this season. The Nittany Lions will travel to Ohio State for their Big Ten season opener and will be featured on ESPNU on Saturday, March 31 at 3 p.m. ET. Penn State will also be featured on ESPNU on when they host Johns Hopkins on Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m.
ARCERI NAMED BIG TEN SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK X4 (2/20, 2/27, 3/6, 3/13)
Penn State men's lacrosse sophomore Gerard Arceri earned his fourth consecutive Big Ten Specialist of the Week honor. Against Furman, Arceri won 19-21 face-off attempts, with an impressive .905 winning percentage. He also scooped up a career-high 18 ground balls in the affair, while scoring a goal as well. His effort helped Penn State to a 16-5 victory.
Against Cornell, Arceri won 11 of 19 attempts, bringing his weekly winning percentage to .750. He also added 10 ground balls against Big Red.
Arceri was named the Big Ten Specialist of the Week for the first time this season, as well as, being named to the USILA Team of the Week for his dominating performance against Stony Brook.
Arceri was a key cog in the Nittany Lions' offense as he went 20-27 on the faceoff, including a commanding 9 of 10 in the opening quarter that led to three goals in the first 1:03 of the game. The sophomore from St. James, N.Y., finished the game with a career-high 16 ground balls, and three points, scoring two goals and dishing out his first career assist. This was Arceri's first career multi-goal game and he finished with a season-high .741 faceoff winning percentage.
He then picked up his second-straight Big Ten honor after going 17-24 on the face, with 10 GBs and a goal against Robert Morris.
His third came after going 18-20, for a season-high .900-winning percentage. He scooped up a game-best 13 ground balls and scored a goal as well in the 10-7 win over No. 13 Penn.
O'KEEFE NAMED B1G OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (2/13)
Mac O'Keefe was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Hobart, as announced by the league office on TuesÂday afternoon. O'Keefe scored a team-best five goals against Hobart, adding an assist as well. The attackman added four ground balls and one caused turnover. He scored three of Penn State's goals during a crucial second half 8-1 run that gave the Nittany Lions the lead and the win after being down 7-6 at the half. His assist came during that run as well.
This is the second-straight Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor for Penn State as Ryan Keenan was honored last week. Freshman Jack Kelly earned Freshman of the Week honors as well last week. O'Keefe now has two career Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors, earning one in his freshman campaign (2/8/17).
KEENAN, KELLY EARN B1G HONORS
Following the first week of action, the Penn State men's lacrosse team saw senior midfielder Ryan Keenan and freshman midfielder Jack Kelly earn Big Ten weekly honors as Keenan was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Kelly took home the Freshman of the Week honor, as announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.
Keenan, who was named a member of the USILA DI Team of the Week on Monday, earns his first career honor from the Big Ten after putting together a career performance against Villanova. The middie scored a career-high five goals and added two assists on the way to a personal best seven points. He also scooped up five ground balls in the game. His five goals put him in a four-way tie atop the NCAA goals per game leaderboard.
Kelly took home the Freshman of the Week honor after scoring two goals in his first collegiate game. His two goals came on his only two shots of the game. He also added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
The trio of juniors Chris Sabia and Grant Ament and sophomore Gerard Arceri were named to the USILA Preseason DI Player of the Year Watch List. They were also named as Penn State's Big Ten Players to Watch. Sabia was named an Inside Lacrosse Preseason Second Team All-America honoree, while Arceri was named to the Third Team and Ament earned Honorable Mention.
QUAD CORE OF CAPTAINS
The 2018 Nittany Lion squad will be led by senior middies Ryan Keenan, Tanner Peck, and Tripp Traynor, and redshirt junior defender Mike Aronow. When asked about their leadership skills, Head Coach Jeff Tambroni mentioned how each was different, and together they provided a well-rounded leadership core. The quartet has helped the Nittany Lions' program come from a 5-9 record in their freshman season to an improved 12-4, and a No. 1 ranking in the national poll in their junior year, and will look to build upon in 2018.
#BRICKSQUAD MENTALITY
The blue-collar work ethic of Penn State men's lacrosse has been a mainstay under Coach Jeff Tambroni, and even using a brick to symbolize what that means has been in play for a few years, but following the 2017 season, the now-graduated seniors of 2017 gave Tambroni a brick with the engraving "Leave it better than you found it... Class of 2017." "We wanted an identity piece," Tambroni said. "We wanted our program to think about a symbol more visually instead of just conversations with our guys about what we want it to look like. Also, there is a second brick that is passed around by the team to the player with the "most brick mentality" every week. The player who holds the brick chooses who deserves the brick the following week, and they pass the actual brick on to the next deserving player.