UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 19th-ranked Penn State men's lacrosse team opens postseason play Saturday by hosting Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Panzer Stadium and will air live on Big Ten Network.
The Lions and Blue Jays meet for the third time this season after splitting their two regular season matchups.
Under current Big Ten guidance, public tickets will not be sold for the 2021 Big Ten Men's Lacrosse Tournament.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Saturday, May 1 | 6 p.m.
Big Ten Network | Live Stats
SERIES HISTORY
• Johns Hopkins leads 10-4 in the all-time series with Penn State, but the Lions have won four of the past five matchups.
• The teams first played in 1916.
• All four Penn State wins against Johns Hopkins came during Jeff Tambroni's time as head coach.
• The teams split their two games against each other this season with the Blue Jays winning the first matchup 13-6 and the Lions taking the second meeting 11-8.
• Mac O'Keefe scored four goals in the win over Johns Hopkins this season, while Nick Cardile caused three turnovers.
SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
• Johns Hopkins is the sixth-seeded team in the Big Ten Tournament after going 2-8 in the regular season. The Blue Jays had wins over Michigan and Penn State.
• The Blue Jays are coming off a strong performance against No. 1 Maryland in the regular season finale. They led 13-11 before the Terrapins scored three goals in the final 1:48 of play.
• Connor DeSimone ranks ninth in the Big Ten in points/game (3.60) and sixth in assists/game (1.50).
GAME 10 RECAP
• Dylan Foulds scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final 1:08 of play, and Aleric Fyock made an incredible save in the final seconds to clinch a 10-9 win at No. 15 Ohio State.
• Foulds had four goals in the game and three of them came in the fourth quarter. The first goal of the final quarter was a great individual effort that tied the game at 7-7 following a caused turnover by the crease and a scoop and score. The second came off a great pass from Mac O'Keefe and tied the game at 9-9 with 1:08 to play, while the final goal came with 23 seconds to play. Foulds first goal of the game also tied the game, making it 4-4 with just one second left in the first half.
• Fyock made his first career start and stopped 15 of the 24 shots he faced. He made a kick save with seconds to play on an unobstructed shot from five yards out to help secure the win.
• O'Keefe, TJ Malone, and Dan Reaume scored two goals apiece.
CAREER HIGHS SET LAST GAME
• Canyon Birch – Ground Balls (3)
• Jack Posey – Ground Balls (2)
• Dan Reaume – Assists (2)
• Aleric Fyock – Saves (15), Minutes (60:00), Save % (.625)
DEFENDING CHAMPION
• Penn State is the defending champion in the Big Ten Tournament, but that win came in 2019. The 2020 championship was not contested due to COVID 19.
LOADED BIG TEN
• Playing only Big Ten teams this season has provided a challenge for all six programs in the conference. Five of the six teams have appeared in the USILA Poll at some point this season, while the sixth team has received votes.
• Five of Penn State's six losses came to teams that have been nationally ranked this season.
O'KEEFE SETS NCAA GOALS RECORD
• Mac O'Keefe is the NCAA Division I career goals record holder with 219.
• O'Keefe broke the previous record held by Duke's Justin Guterding, who scored 212 goals in 75 games from 2015-18, with his second goal against Michigan on April 16, 2021.
• O'Keefe's 219 goals have come in 65 games, giving him 3.37 goals/game.
O'KEEFE GOAL STREAK
• Mac O'Keefe is first among active players with a 42-game goal-scoring streak.
• O'Keefe has 152 goals during that stretch.
• The last game O'Keefe didn't score a goal was in a 9-7 loss to Cornell on March 10, 2018.
MALONE LEADS THE OFFENSE
• T.J. Malone has established himself as one of the leaders on the offensive end for Penn State in his junior season.
• He currently leads the team in points (40) and assists (16). He ranks second in goals (24).
• Malone picked up right where he left off in the shortened 2020 season, in which he had 23 points on 16 goals and seven assists in seven games. As a freshman in 2019, he totaled 36 points on 30 goals and six assists.
KNEESE REACHES SAVES MILESTONE
• Colby Kneese made his 600th career save during Penn State's game at Johns Hopkins on March 13.
• Kneese currently ranks third in program history in career saves with 656. He needs 31 to pass Austin Kaut (2011-14) for third and 58 to pass Drew Adams (2006-09) for the record.
TAMBRONI REACHES MILESTONE
• Jeff Tambroni, who is in his 21st season as a head coach, is 202-100.
• His .669 winning percentage ranks sixth among all active NCAA Division I coaches.
• Tambroni's 93 wins at Penn State are the second-most in program history.
• Tambroni's .608 winning percentage at Penn State is easily the best in program history. Glenn Thiel is second at .559.
• Tambroni has had just one losing season in his 20 completed seasons as head coach.
UP NEXT
• The winner of Saturday's game advances to play second-seeded Rutgers on Saturday, May 8 at Panzer Stadium.
