March 9, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 20 Penn State Men's Lacrosse team takes Cornell on Saturday, March 9 at 12 p.m. at the US Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Md., and will play on Tierney Field at the complex.
Head coach Jeff Tambroni will be facing his former team for the third time since he has arrived at Penn State. Under his tutelage, the Nittany Lions are 2-0 against Cornell. In 2016, Penn State won, 8-7, at Cornell, and last season, the Nittany Lions dominated in University Park, Pa., 20-10.
Tambroni was the head coach at Cornell for ten seasons before coming to Penn State in 2011.
ADMISSION
Admission is free to Saturday's neutral-site contest at the US Lacrosse Headquarters.
ABOUT THE FACILITY
A $15 million capital campaign funded entirely by private donations resulted in a new headquarters for US Lacrosse, a training center for the U.S. national teams, and endowments for US Lacrosse safety and inclusion programs. The facility features a three-story administrative center named in honor of a lead gift from the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, the National Hall of Fame and Museum, and Tierney Field.
US Lacrosse purchased the 12-acre plot of land in Sparks, Md., December 2012 and broke ground on the facility April 23, 2015. US Lacrosse staff moved into the building May 16, 2016, and opened the complex to the public Sept. 9-11, 2016.
Visitor's Guide: HERE
PARKING
Vehicles must park in the spaces and not along curbs. Vehicles may never block driveways, entrances or other vehicles. Avoid spaces reserved for ADA and, during business hours, MedStar Health. Event overflow parking available on Loveton Circle and at Firaxis Games (10 Loveton Circle).
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State out-scored the Paladins, 11-1, in the opening half to spark their way to a win.
Junior Nick Spillane had a strong day as the attackman registered two goals and four assists. His four assists mark a new career high.
Sophomore Mac O'Keefe also added a hat trick and added two assists. Freshman Brian Townsend scored two goals and tallied an assist, while Matt Donnelly recorded two goals, and Robby Black added a goal and an assist.
The Nittany Lions also got goals from Kevin Hill, Ryan Keenan, Gerard Arceri, Nick McEvoy, John Nostrant and Cole Willard.
Penn State scored 11 straight goals before Furman would find the back of the net with 3:00 minutes left in the opening half.
Arceri went 19-21 at the face in the game, and freshman Jake Glatz went of 3-4 at the `x.'
Colby Kneese made 10 saves in the cage, while Trevor Scollins made two and Will Schreiner made one.
BACK IN THE POLLS
After one week of falling out of the polls, Penn State jumped back into the national rankings, coming in at No. 20 in the USILA Coaches Poll and Inside Lacrosse / Maverick Media Poll.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Penn State senior Hunter Pearl, a Reisterstown, Md., native, will face his brother, Keegan Pearl, a freshman for Furman, for the first time in his collegiate career. Penn State's Pearl was recruited and started as a goalie at Penn State, but has since transitioned to midfield. Furman's Pearl is an attackman. Their father, J.J. Pearl, played goalie at Penn State from 1989-92 and had both a successful pro and national team career.
AMENT NAMED TO TAWAARATON WATCHLIST
Junior Grant Ament was named to the first edition of the Tawaraaton Watchlist. 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.
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 X3 (2/20, 2/27, 3/6)
Penn State men's lacrosse sophomore Gerard Arceri earned his third consecutive Big Ten Specialist of the Week honor for 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.
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.
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.