UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 1 Penn State men's lacrosse team took down UMBC, 25-10, on Sunday afternoon at Panzer Stadium to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinal game on Sunday, May 19 at East Hartford, Connecticut.
The Nittany Lions used an impressive performance at the face-off 'x' to lead the way to victory.
Penn State went 34-38 on face-offs, just one face-off win shy of the NCAA single game team record of 35.
Gerard Arceri was 25-27 at the face-off X, tying his career high with 25. Arceri won the first 14 face-offs of the game. Penn State was able to find the back of the net nine times during that 14-face-off win span.
UMBC's first face-off win came at the 13:52 mark of the second quarter.
Arceri set a new career high in ground balls in the first half when he collected his 22nd with 1:03 to play in the second quarter. He finished the game with 24.
His counterpart Jake Glatz finished the game going 9-11 at the 'x,' with six ground balls.
Penn State saw both Jack Kelly and Mac O'Keefe score six goals to lead the way for the top offense in the nation.
Kelly scored all six of his goals in the first half of action, recording both a career high in goals and points as he finished with seven as he added an assist to his stat line.
O'Keefe added an assist to his six-goal outing, also adding one caused turnover. On his second goal of the afternoon, the native of Syosset, New York became the Big Ten record holder for goals in a single season, breaking the previous record of 61 goals set in 2015 by Ryan Brown of Johns Hopkins.
14:18 2Q | Mac O'Keefe with his second goal of the day and his 62nd this season for the @B1GLacrosse single-season goals record ‼️
— Penn State Men's Lacrosse (@PennStateMLAX) May 12, 2019
Penn State leads 8-4 to start the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/lXwRUeMlk6
The Nittany Lions also got offense from Grant Ament, Dylan Foulds, Nick Spillane, TJ Malone, Dan Reaume, Cole Willard, Jake Glatz, Jack Traynor, and Gerard Arceri.
Ament finished the day with three goals and a team-best five assists. He also added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
Foulds tied all his career-best marks with four goals, three assists for seven points. He also added two ground balls.
Nick Spillane and Dan Reaume also recorded multi-point performances for the Blue & White. Spillane tallied a goal and two assists, while Reaume went for one goal and one assist.
Malone, Willard, Traynor and Glatz all recorded a goal, while Arceri added an assist.
On the defensive end, Penn State saw Nick Cardile and TJ Connellan record a caused turnover, while Chris Sabia finished the game with four ground balls.
In cage, Colby Kneese picked up the win and moved to 15-1 on the year and recorded five saves in 47:22 in cage. Trevor Scollins recorded four saves in his 12:38 of action.
The Nittany Lions advance to the NCAA Quarterfinal for the first time in program history and will play at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday, May 19. The time is either 12 p.m. or 2:30 p.m.