UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 5 Penn State men's lacrosse team hosts the University of Pennsylvania in a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, March 2 in Panzer Stadium for the first time this season.
Penn State vs Penn - 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch ($) | Penn State Game Notes (PDF)
TICKETS
Ticket prices have been set at $5 for adults and $3 for youth (ages 12 and under). Penn State students will be able to get in for free by showing their Penn State ID. Tickets will be available only on game day at the Panzer Stadium ticket windows. Both the gates and the ticket office will open 60 minutes before the game.
PARKING
Parking for games played at Panzer Stadium will be available in the Jordan East lot, and while fans can bring bags into the facility, all bags are subject to search. 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
This marks the 40th match-up between the two Pennsylvania teams as Penn State holds a 24-14-1 all-time record over the Quakers. This also marks the fifth consecutive season that the two teams have matched up with Penn State holding a 3-1 record since 2015, with Penn taking the 2016 meeting.
In 2018, Penn State went into Philadelphia and took down the Quakers, 12-4, behind a balanced offensive performance and a 10-save game from goalie Colby Kneese.
WEEK 3 ROUND-UP
Penn State moved to 3-1 after a 14-13 loss at No. 7 Yale. Penn State trailed by as much a five goals early in the fourth quarter, but a 5-1 run over a 10 minute span, including a nasty shake-and-bake goal by Grant Ament, brought the game within one with 56-seconds left to play. However, as was the difference in the game, Yale won the faceoff for the 25th time in the contest, and Penn State was unable to get possession back for an attempt at the tying goal. Penn State saw Mac O'Keefe lead with five goals, while Ament scored two goals and dished out seven assists. Nick Spillane and Jack Kelly also had multi-goal performances out of the midfield. Colby Kneese led the game with 10 saves, and Chris Sabia recorded a team-high five ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Grant Ament earned his second USILA Team of the Week honor this season for his two goal, seven assist performance against Yale.
Despite the loss, Penn State dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 across all three polls.
NCAA STAT RANKINGS
The Nittany Lions are averaging 18.5 goals per game which is second in the nation and are also averaging 11.75 assists per game which is good for second as well. Penn State is leading the nation in scoring margin at 9.75 per game as they hold their opponents to just 8.75 goals per game.
The Nittany Lions are assisting on 63.5-percent of their goals with Grant Ament assisting on 32.4-percent alone. Ament currently leads the nation in both points per game (7.75) and assists per game (6.00).
Mac O'Keefe is currently third in the nation in goals per game at 4.75 and is third in individual man-up goals with three.
Colby Kneese is second in the nation in save percentage at 67.6-percent.
ACTIVE POINT STREAK
Redshirt junior Grant Ament has the sixth longest point scoring streak in the nation, recording a point in all 35 of his career games played are 57-88-145. Senior Pat Spencer of Loyola currently leads the list at 54 as a senior at 113-174-287. Ament's streak is the longest active in the Big Ten with Michigan's Brent Noseworthy following at 31 games.
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.
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.
