PHILADELPHIA, Pa.-- The Penn State men's lacrosse team fell to Yale in the NCAA semifinal, 21-17, at Lincoln Financial Field Saturday evening.
"I'm just proud of them," Head Coach Jeff Tambroni said following the game. "You get to this point, and we've said this to them all year, talked their identity, and I think it's important for these guys to remember that when you take the jersey off their identity goes with them, it's not left behind. They've left behind a phenomenal culture; they have fed off of Penn State and the Penn State athletics and the loyalty and commitment that this institution provides for us and for one another. I think it's important for these guys to recognize they have been built on adversity, not necessarily success."
"This is a group that has had a lot of tough times, and I want them to recognize that each time they face something like that, they've gotten up and dusted themselves off and become better, and I hope in some way, shape or form they will take solace not in today's loss but for what they have helped develop. That group of seniors is going to be awesome in life, and I think that's what our coaching staff and Penn State will be most proud of, not necessarily what they do on the field but our Athletic Director says it all the time, their impact in life, so we're darn proud of them."
Redshirt Junior Grant Ament continues to rewrite the record book as his five-assist outing on the day gave him both the Big Ten and Penn State all-time career assists record with 160. Ament also chipped in three goals for an eight-point day.
Ament finished 2019 with the NCAA record for assists in the single season at 96, as well as, the NCAA record for assists per game in a single season at 5.65, well above the previous record of 5.25 per game set by Dennis Fink (Drexel, 1978).
The first half was a tale of two quarters for the Nittany Lions. After falling behind early, Penn State came out firing in the second quarter, with two goals in nine seconds. With a seven-goal outing in the second, the Nittany Lions headed into halftime down, 12-9.
Junior Gerard Arceri was a spark for the Nittany Lions on offense, adding in three goals for a career high. The faceoff specialist ended the day with nine ground balls.
Redshirt junior Dylan Foulds led the Nittany Lions with five goals for a career high. Junior Mac O'Keefe had three goals for the Nittany Lions.
Sophomore Jack Kelly and Nick Spillane were the other goal-scorers for Penn State. Kelly had two goals, while Spillane had a five-point outing with one goal and four assists.
Redshirt junior Tommy Wright and senior classmates Nick Cardile and Chris Sabia anchored the defense for Penn State. Wright chipped in seven ground balls for a career-high and had one caused turnover.
Cardile added in two ground balls and five caused turnovers. Cardile's five caused turnovers are a career high and the most by a Nittany Lion in a NCAA Tournament game. Sabia was all over the field with two ground balls, an assist and a caused turnover.
Junior goaltender Colby Kneese ended the day with nine saves and four ground balls. Kneese finished the season with 16 wins, the most in a single season for a Nittany Lion.
Penn State shattered their wins record in 2019 with 16 wins, along with their total goals in a season record, which was 221 in 1987, but putting away 323 in 2019.
