UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State men's lacrosse continues Big Ten play when it travels to take on Johns Hopkins Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will air live on ESPNU.
Saturday's game has Big Ten Tournament implications. With a win, Penn State would set itself up to host a quarterfinal game in the Big Ten Tournament, or potentially receive a bye into the semifinals if it followed it with another win next weekend at Rutgers.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Saturday, April 16 | 6 p.m.
Live Stats | ESPNU
SERIES HISTORY
• Penn State trails 11-4 in the all-time series with Johns Hopkins, but the Lions have won four of the past six meetings dating back to 2018.
• The teams played three times last season. Johns Hopkins won the first contest in Baltimore, Penn State won the second in State College, and Johns Hopkins won the third in State College in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.
• All four of Penn State's wins in the series have come during Jeff Tambroni's time as head coach.
SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
• Johns Hopkins is 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten following a losses to Rutgers (12-7) and Ohio State (12-10). The Blue Jays opened Big Ten play with a 15-12 win over Michigan.
• The Blue Jays have three of the Big Ten's top 11 players in caused turnovers per game -- Beaudan Zuluk (4th, 1.08), Scott Smith (6th, 0.92), and Owen McManus (11th, 0.83).
• Johns Hopkins had notable non-conference wins over Jacksonville (11-8), Loyola (Md.) (11-10), and Syracuse (10-7).
VS. THE BIG TEN
• Penn State is 59-111 (.347) all-time against current members of the Big Ten. The Lions are 28-24 (.538) against those same teams during head coach Jeff Tambroni's 12 seasons with the team.
• The Lions are 19-19 (.500) in Big Ten regular season games since the league added lacrosse in 2015. They have winning records in league play over Michigan and Ohio State.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT
• Penn State freshmen have accounted for 78 points on 39 goals and 39 assists this season.
• That's 40 percent of the team's points, 31 percent of the team's goals and 55 percent of the team's assists.
• The freshmen group that has contributed to the scoring includes six players.
• Will Peden ranks eighth in the Big Ten in assists/game at 1.55. Just one freshman ranks ahead of him.
• Four Penn State players have combined to win five Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards this season.
KELLY ON THE EMO
• Penn State senior midfielder Jack Kelly has been the team's go-to scoring threat on extra-man opportunities this season.
• Kelly currently ranks third in the Big Ten and 20th in the nation with five man-up goals.
• Twenty-nine percent of Kelly's 17 goals this season have come on extra-man opportunities.
FYOCK SUCCESS IN GOAL
• Redshirt junior Aleric Fyock has been busy in goal this season. He ranks first in the Big Ten in saves per game at 12.00.
• Fyock's best performance came in a 10-6 win over then-No. 5 Yale at Panzer Stadium on Feb. 26. He was named the Big Ten Specialist of the Week after making a career-high 21 saves on 27 chances.
• Fyock has made double-digit saves in seven games this season. He has won Big Ten Specialist of the Week twice.
UP NEXT
• Penn State travels to play Rutgers on Saturday, April 23, at 4 p.m. on B1G Network.
• The Scarlet Knights are 10-2 and ranked seventh in the nation.
