UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 9 Penn State men's lacrosse team hosts Robert Morris at 11 a.m. in Holuba Hall on Saturday, February 9.
Penn State vs Robert Morris - 11 a.m.
Live Stats | Penn State Game Notes
TICKETS
Games in Holuba Hall are free admission. Doors will open at 10 a.m.
PARKING
Fans are encouraged to park in the Jordan East Parking Lot behind Multi-Sport, walk alongside Pegula and turn through the outdoor tennis facility to get to Holuba. Tailgating should be kept to the areas south of Dauer Drive in the grassy areas, keeping the aisles free for traffic to flow normally.
THE MATCH-UP
Penn State and Robert Morris are even at 3-3 in the all-time series with the Colonials taking the 2018 meeting, 12-9, in University Park. This will be the first game of the 2019 season for RMU, while the Nittany Lions come in after a 17-7 win over Villanova.
WEEK 1 ROUND-UP
Penn State opened up 2019 with a 17-7 win over Villanova. Penn State saw redshirt junior Grant Ament and junior Colby Kneese have career performances, while 11 different Nittany Lions recorded points for the Blue & White. Ament, who was sidelined for all of 2018, made a triumphant return as the attackman recorded a career-best 10 points by tallying three goals and a career-high seven assists. Kneese was a stalwart for the Nittany Lions in the cage recording a career-best 19 saves and only allowing four goals in 53:04. Defensively, TJ Connellan and Nick Cardile each recorded two caused turnovers, while Brayden Peck and Chris Sabia each tallied one.
Penn State saw Ament, Kneese and freshman TJ Malone earn weekly honors from the Big Ten. Ament was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Kneese was named Co-Specialist of the Week, and Malone picked up his first career honor as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
Ament's seven assists tied for fourth most in a single game for Penn State history. He also moved into eighth all-time in Penn State history for career assists with 71. This was Ament's second career Big Ten weekly honor after earning the same honor on February 22, 2017.
This marks Kneese's third career Bi Ten Specialist of the Week honor (4/3/18, 4/4/17).
ACTIVE POINT STREAK
Redshirt junior Grant Ament has the sixth longest point scoring streak in the nation, recording a point in all 32 of his career games played are 51-69-120. Pat Spencer of Loyola currently leads the list at 51.
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.
BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State men's lacrosse team was picked third in the 2019 Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll that was announced by the league office.
Penn State was picked third following the No. 1 pick, Johns Hopkins, and Maryland, who was picked second. Ohio State and Rutgers tied for fourth, and Michigan was picked sixth.
The Big Ten Conference office also announced their preseason Players to Watch list which featured senior defenseman Chris Sabia, junior attackman Grant Ament, and junior face-off specialist Gerard Arceri.
MORE THAN A NUMBER
Penn State has special meaning behind the jersey numbers 11 and 16.
Matt Donnelly has proven his perseverance through- out 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.
