UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 9 Penn State men's lacrosse team put on an offensive performance on Saturday afternoon as the Nittany Lions scored a program record 27 goals en route to a 27-10 win over visiting Robert Morris in Holuba Hall.
Penn State broke the 43-year-old goals record that was set in 1976 in a 26-5 win at Lafayette.
The Nittany Lions were able to get 15 different goal scorers, and a total of 17 total athletes in the points column.
Redshirt junior Grant Ament led the squad in points for the second-straight match with seven points on a goal and six assists. Junior Mac O'Keefe followed with six points on five goals and one assist, while freshman TJ Malone added four goals and an assist for five points. Senior Nick Spillane added four points with two goals and two assist, and freshman Seamus Glynn recorded three assists for three points. Redshirt junior Dylan Foulds and freshman Jack Traynor each tallied two goals for two points, while junior Nick McEvoy and redshirt freshman Dan Reaume each recorded two points with a goal and an assist.
The other single point scorers included Brian Townsend, Bobby Burns, Nate Buller, Gerard Arceri, Kevin Fox, and Barrett Sutley who all scored goals for the Blue & White, and Matt Donnelly who tacked on an assist.
The Nittany Lions would go 23-39 on the face, with junior Gerard Arceri winning 11 of 13 with 8 ground balls, and took his last face-off at 8:39 in the second quarter. Sophomore Jake Glatz would take a career-high 21 face-offs, winning 10 and adding four ground balls.
Junior goalie Colby Kneese recorded 11 saves in 36:47 in cage, while only allowing four goals. Senior Trevor Scollins recorded three saves in 17:26, and sophomore Dylan Sulzbach recorded three saves in just 5:47 and did not let up a single goal.
Aiding in the defensive end, senior captain Chris Sabia led the team with three caused turnovers, adding one ground ball. The team recorded nine caused turnovers with sophomores Brayden Peck and John Nostrant, juniors Nick McEvoy and Barrett Sutley, and senior Kevin Fox and Dean Lamela each added one.
It took a few minutes for the offense to get rolling for the Nittany Lions, but once Nick Spillane for Mac O'Keefe at 9:26 in the first quarter, the goals kept rolling in for Penn State. A 6-2 opening quarter would be foreshadowing for the rest of the games. Penn State would go up 18-3 at the half, and close out the game, 27-10, with all those suited up getting into the game.
Penn State hits the road for the first time this season as they head to Stony Brook for a 12 p.m. start in Stony Brook, N.Y., on Saturday, February 16.