CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No. 1 Penn State men's lacrosse team took down Cleveland State, 15-11, in a gritty affair in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday afternoon in the Nittany Lions' final nonconference game of the season.
Senior Nick Spillane and junior Mac O'Keefe led the way with six points each. Spillane scored three goals and dished out three assists, while O'Keefe netted five goals and added one assist.
Redshirt junior Dylan Foulds was the third Nittany Lion with a multi-point performance as the attackman scored two goals and added an assist.
Penn State also got goals from senior Matt Donnelly, juniors Gerard Arceri and Nick Cardile, and freshmen TJ Malone and Joe White. Freshman Jack Traynor added an assist.
Sophomore Bobby Burns picked up a career-high five ground balls and added a caused turnover. Malone scooped up a career-best five groundballs and a caused turnover. Redshirt junior Tommy Wright added three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Junior Gerard Arceri scooped up nine groundballs and won 15 faceoffs.
Junior goalie Colby Kneese recorded 10 saves and the win.
Penn State opened with a strong first quarter, out-scoring the host 6-2. Junior Mac O'Keefe opened things up with back-to-back goals before the Vikings would score their first of the game. Penn State would score four-straight with Gerard Arceri scoring off the face, Dylan Foulds scoring off a Jack Traynor assist, senior Matt Donnelly would get his first of the season off the pass from Nick Spillane, and then Spillane would get one of his own with just 51-seconds left to play. The Vikings would sneak in a buzzer beater as the sounded, making it 6-2 at the break.
Cleveland State would score out Penn State in the third, 3-2. Penn State would get goals from TJ Malone and Joe White would score the first goal of his career.
The second half started with a CSU goal, but Penn State saw O'Keefe get his third of the game. Spillane added on a goal and an assist as he found Nick Cardile for his first goal of the season. O'Keefe also added on an assist as Foulds got his second of the game as the third period closed out.
Penn State saw Spillane take over in the fourth quarter scoring a goal to end a three-goal CSU run, and he then found O'Keefe to inflate the Penn State lead. O'Keefe added his fifth of the afternoon to help seal the game, before the Vikings would get one back before the end.
Penn State opens Big Ten play at Maryland on March 31 at 7 p.m. The game will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
