UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 4 Penn State men's lacrosse team hits the road to take on Stony Brook at 12 p.m. on Saturday, February 16 in Lavalle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y.
Penn State at Stony Brook
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THE MATCH-UP
Penn State holds a 7-2 record over the Seawolves after meeting up with them for the first time in 12 years last season. Penn State took the 2018 match-up 15-8 in University Park.
WEEK 2 ROUND-UP
Penn State turned in a record performance against Robert Morris in the second week of the season. The Blue & White scored a program-high 27 goals, Penn State broke the 43-year-old goals record that was set in 1976 in a 26-5 win at Lafayette. The Nittany Lions were able to get 15 different goal scorers, and a total of 17 total athletes in the points column. The Nittany Lions would go 23-39 on the face, with junior Gerard Arceri winning 11 of 13 with 8 ground balls and took his last face-off at 8:39 in the second quarter. Sophomore Jake Glatz took a career-high 21 face-offs, winning 10 and adding four ground balls.
Because of their outstanding play through the first two games, Penn State jumped up to No. 4 in the USILA and Inside Lacrosse polls, while moving up to No. 5 in the US Lacrosse Mag/Nike poll.
Freshman TJ Malone earned his second-straight Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor after scoring four goals, including one man-up, and dishing out an assist.
Ament was named to the USILA Team of the Week for his two-week total of 17 points for his performances against Villanova and Robert Morris. The attackman scored three goals and tallied a career-best seven assists against Villanova and followed it up with 1 goal and six assists in the win over Robert Morris.
THE RETURN
The Penn State Nittany Lions return not only nine starters and the USILA Third Team All-America face-off specialist, the Nittany Lions return 2017 60-point scorer in Grant Ament who was sidelined in 2018 with injury. In his absence, Nick Spillane, a starting offensive middie in 2017, slid to attack to fill the distribution role that was void without Ament. Now with Ament back in action, Spillane is able to return back to the midfield to replace the loss of Ryan Keenan, who has taken his talents to the professional realm and is playing for the Ohio Machine.
CAPTAINS
The Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni named Mike Aronow, Matt Donnelly and Chris Sabia as captains for 2019.
Aronow, a native of Holbrook, N.Y., returns as team captain after being the only underclassman in the role in 2018, an honor he received after missing all of the 2017 season due to injury. In his comeback season as a redshirt junior, Aronow started all 14 games at defender, causing 11 turnovers, which was good for second on the team. He added 24 ground balls and an assist in 2018.
Donnelly, a native of Sewell, N.J., played in all 14 games in 2018, including earning four starts. He scored eight goals and added five assists for 13 points. He also added seven ground balls and two caused turnovers on the season. Donnelly has also proven his perseverance throughout his career, and was given the No. 11 jersey as a freshman.
Sabia has started all 45 games in his collegiate career, and has accumulated 51 career turnovers, 75 ground balls, six goals and an assist in his time at Penn State. The defenseman has earned both conference and national recognition as he was named both a 2017 and 2018 All-Big Ten second team honoree and was a USILA honorable mention All-American in 2017 and 2018 as well.
MORE THAN A NUMBER
Penn State has special meaning behind the jersey numbers 11 and 16.
Matt Donnelly has proven his perseverance throughout his career and was given the No. 11 jersey as a freshman as the No. 11 is presented to a young man who has persevered in the face of adversity. Donnelly lost his father during his junior year of high school. The jersey number 11, worn by Michael Jacober, 2002-05, has become symbolic of the strength and compassion of the 2005 Penn State lacrosse team who rallied around Michael after his family was tragically killed in a plane crash during his senior season year.
The No. 16 uniform will be worn by Chris Sabia in 2019 as he was selected by former Nittany Lion Ryan Keenan to next wear the number, which has been presented annually, since 2016, to a senior who best represents the "Heart of a Competitor" in honor of our "Teammate for Life" Connor Darcey. Connor passed away tragically on June 12, 2015 in a car accident, prior to his redshirt junior season. The No. 16 is passed down by the student-athlete who had the honor of wearing the No. 16 during the previous season.
