As the Nittany Lions continue the best start to conference play in program history, Penn State's ability to produce breakout stars in each contest amazes both those within the program and around the country.
In the Nittany Lions' 17-7 win in Ann Arbor last weekend, redshirt junior Dylan Foulds (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had a career performance as he notched six points in the win, with three goals and three assists. His tallies came in the span of 1:05 on the clock as he registered goals at the 3:50, 3:20, and 2:45 marks of the first quarter.
Foulds' mindset on the field gives him the ability to impact a game in ways not necessarily seen on the score sheet.
"I think Dylan creates a lot of situations and opportunities for other people who don't get recognized," Tambroni said. "There were a couple times defensive attention was geared towards other guys when Dylan found himself in advantageous positions and he was in the right place at the right time.
"They all complement each other really well, which put Dylan in charge of making plays, and I think it's a luxury to have guys on the attack that can beat them."
Penn State's attack is spearheaded by the passing vision of Grant Ament (Doylestown, Pa.) and the goal-scoring ability of Mac O'Keefe (Syosset, N.Y.), but the contributions of players like Foulds and TJ Malone (West Chester, Pa.) make the Penn State attack incredibly hard to stop.
The contributions of Foulds' style are two-fold, and his mindset both on and off the field allow him to be successful this season.
"For a coach, he's a welcome addition," Tambroni said. "When he comes to practice, there's very little distraction off the field, so you know exactly what you'll get on a daily basis. His lifestyle has led to his success in the classroom as one of the brightest in terms of his GPA on the team.
"On the field, he plays a very cerebral game, but he's also just such a hard-working young man, which has led to both his and our success."
Foulds represents a different style of player with regard to his origins from western Canada. While he isn't the only Canadian player on the roster, his British Columbian roots make him a unique personality in the Penn State locker room among his Pennsylvania teammates.
"With so many teams in sports, the geography is so spread out," Foulds said. "There are hotbeds in lacrosse and within those places there can be different rivalries between guys from Philly and Maryland, for example.
"Then they come here and become best friends. If they weren't brought together by a program like Penn State, apart from lacrosse they don't have many similarities but then they become great teammates and friends."
Foulds followed the lead of both Tambroni and upperclassmen in the development of his game.
"It's funny because I think since I got here, I've really tried to model how I approach my everyday mindset with a lot of the things I've learned from Coach (Tambroni) and the older guys," Foulds said. "Through him, you start doing things subconsciously, the idea of leaving things better than you found them. The idea is to give it your all in everything you do, and we do things inside of our workouts that can translate to every-day life."
Foulds credited his fellow attackers for the way they've baffled defenses all season long.
"I think it can be a credit to Grant, when you play with him that certain things are ingrained in your movements on the field," Foulds said. "It provides you with an opportunity to score, or it allows you to give others opportunities to score. What goes unnoticed when I score is someone like TJ Malone open on the back side, and he's a threat to score as well.
"I think it's a product of the offense itself. Coach Tambroni does a good job illustrating what we should be doing, it has more to do with all six guys doing their job well."
