Here’s what to know about Penn State men’s lacrosse’s shortened 2021 season
With last season cut short at seven games due to the coronavirus pandemic, Penn State men’s lacrosse will face a similar challenge this season with an abbreviated, conference-only schedule.
There are five games lined up for the Nittany Lions, who rank sixth (according to USILA Coaches Poll) in the country — one against each Big Ten opponent — starting with a match at Rutgers on Saturday.
Now entering his 11th season at the helm for Penn State, coach Jeff Tambroni is excited to see his players return to the field, but admitted there were some challenges his team faced during the offseason amid a global pandemic.
One thing he noted in particular was the obstacle of integrating the incoming freshmen with the rest of the team, but Tambroni is confident those players — 11 total first-year players — will expeditiously adjust to the collegiate level due to their talent and experience.
The Nittany Lions’ leading scorer last year, Grant Ament, turned pro and was drafted by the Archers of the Premiere Lacrosse League last May. His offensive production (13 goals, 31 assists, 44 points) in only seven games will need to be accounted for if Penn State hopes to re-create the prolific scoring attack it had last season. The Nittany Lions finished fifth in the country with 17.29 goals per game and third with 121 total goals.
One candidate to pick up the load offensively is graduate student Mac O’Keefe, who finished second on the team with 36 points but led the Nittany Lions in goals scored with 28 in seven contests last season. His five-year collegiate career has been outstanding as a whole, and he’s only 20 goals away from breaking the all time NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse record set by former Duke attacker Justin Guterding.
“To be honest no one’s going to replace Grant Ament, he carried a lot of weight with everything that he did,” O’Keefe said. “But I think from my point of view it’s just about taking more ownership, leading the team in the right direction, not trying to do too much and step out of my own boundaries, and not take on too much responsibility.”
Junior T.J. Malone is also expected to contribute significantly in the scoring department, and looking to continue his dominant collegiate career after scoring 30 goals as a true freshman and 16 goals on 0.432 shooting percentage last season in seven starts.
Another name to keep an eye on is redshirt senior Dylan Foulds, who has amassed 106 points in 40 games throughout his four years and enjoyed a breakout 2019 junior season in which he totaled 56 points (43 goals, 13 assists) in 18 games.
On the defensive side, graduate student Nick Cardile returns for his final year of eligibility to anchor a Nittany Lions defense that will also be returning starters Brayden Peck and Brett Funk.
Although those three players have familiarity playing with one another, Cardile still embraces his leadership role with the younger players and wants to make sure they’re primed and ready for their first game action as collegiate athletes.
“We try to play fast every single day in practice but when you’re playing against the same guys every single day and you’re in that routine, until you play another team, you’re not going to know what that fast pace of play is,” Cardile said. “So for a bunch of the younger guys, it’s going to be their first time playing in a Big Ten game, so we’re going to have to come out swinging and throwing the first punches.”
Each game on the Nittany Lions’ schedule holds significant importance, especially when considering three of their conference opponents are also ranked (No. 10 Ohio State, No. 18 Rutgers, and No. 20 John Hopkins).
On Tuesday, four players from Penn State were named to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Team, with O’Keefe named a second-team selection, Cardile a third-team selection, and Gerard Arceri and Jack Kelly were selected as honorable mentions.
Penn State’s first game against Rutgers this Saturday is set for noon from SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.