Arceri Breaks Career Ground Balls Record in 16-9 Win Over LafayetteArceri Breaks Career Ground Balls Record in 16-9 Win Over Lafayette
Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

Arceri Breaks Career Ground Balls Record in 16-9 Win Over Lafayette

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Gerard Arceri became the program's all-time ground balls leader and the No. 2 Penn State offense picked up right where it left off last season in a 16-9 win over Lafayette in a non-conference men's lacrosse matchup Saturday at Panzer Stadium. The season-opening win moved the Nittany Lions to a perfect 6-0 at Panzer Stadium, which was opened midway through last season.

Penn State, which had the top scoring offense in the nation last season, was led by Grant Ament with 10 points on four goals and six assists and Mac O'Keefe with six goals and an assist. Seven different Nittany Lions scored in the game, including Jack Traynor with a pair of goals. Kevin Hill, TJ Malone, Dylan Foulds and Mitch Schaefer added one apiece.

The Lions were dominant on faceoffs, winning 22 of 27, including a 19-21 showing from Arceri. Jake Glatz chipped in with three faceoff wins on his six chances.

Arceri led all players with 15 ground balls to give him a Penn State record 450 for his career. His sixth ground ball of the day, which came in the second quarter, gave him the record. He passed Chris Marcus, who had 435 from 1990-93.
 


The Penn State offense started slow and ended slow, but the Lions scored in bunches in the middle. They didn't take the lead until over 10 minutes into the game when O'Keefe scored a man-up goal with an assist from Dylan Foulds. Kevin Hill made it a 3-1 lead, which is how the quarter would end, with a goal off an assist from Ament with 55 seconds left on the clock.

The scoring picked up dramatically to start the second quarter as Penn State scored five goals in a span of two minutes, 55 seconds, starting with an unassisted score by Ament just 36 seconds into the quarter. Ament and O'Keefe had two goals apiece during that stretch, while Traynor added one as the Lions took an 8-1 lead. The Leopards scored once in the quarter to cut their deficit to 8-2 heading into the half.

After an 11:29 scoring drought to end the second quarter, Penn State's offense began to click again in the third quarter. Malone provided the spark with a goal just 38 seconds into the half off an assist from Ament. It was one of four goals Ament assisted on in the quarter. Two were scored by O'Keefe, while the other was by Traynor.
 


Penn state outscored Lafayette 7-2 in the third quarter and 12-3 over the middle two quarters combined. With the starters sitting for a large chunk of the final period, the Leopards finished with a 5-1 edge in the fourth.

Schaefer scored Penn State's lone goal of the fourth quarter with 3:42 showing on the clock. It was the first career goal for the senior.
 


The Lions scored four goals on four extra-man opportunities, including two during a non-releasable penalty in the third quarter. O'Keefe factored in on all four extra-man goals, scoring three times and providing one assist.

Penn State forced 19 Lafayette turnovers. Nick Cardile, Traynor, Bobby Burns, Canyon Birch and Sutton Boland had one caused turnover apiece. Thirteen Lions contributed at least one ground ball.

Ament's 10 points in the game give him 250 for his career. He needs just three more to pass Gary Martin (1981-84) to become the program's all-time leader. O'Keefe ranks third with 205 after tallying seven against Lafayette.

The Lions, who improved to 26-0 in the all-time series with Lafayette, now turn their attention to a road game at Villanova on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. It will be the season opener for the Wildcats. The teams will play for a 13th-consecutive season.