UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2019 Big Ten men's lacrosse postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon, and the Penn State men's lacrosse team saw seven individuals honored, including three bring home individual awards.
Redshirt-junior Grant Ament was named the unanimous Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, senior Chris Sabia was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and head coach Jeff Tambroni was named the 2019 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
All three of the individual honors are firsts for the Penn State men's lacrosse program.
Ament was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team, and he was joined by Sabia and junior Mac O'Keefe.
The Nittany Lions saw juniors Gerard Arceri and Colby Kneese both earn a spot on the Second Team All-Big Ten.
Senior Nick Spillane was named the Nittany Lions' recipient for the Sportsmanship Award.
Tambroni earns his first Big Ten Coach of the Year honor after leading the Nittany Lions to a 12-1 regular season record, and a 5-0 record in the Big Ten for the first time in program history.
Ament, a 2017 First Team All-Big Ten selection, has racked up a Penn State record 88 points so far this season with 17 goals and both a Penn State record and a Big Ten single season record 71 assists. In Big Ten play alone, he scored seven goals and dished out 25 assists. He has added 12 ground balls and two game-winner goals. Ament is the first player to earn a Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honor as a unanimous selection.
Sabia, a 2017 and 2018 All-Big Ten Second Team selection, has led the team with 16 caused turnovers while scooping up 27 ground balls and scoring two goals.
O'Keefe, a 2018 First Team All-Big Ten honoree, leads the Big Ten in goals per game at 3.92 on a total of 51 goals, tying the Penn State single season record he set in 2017. He has also added a personal best 14 assists on the season for 65 points. He scored 15 goals in Big Ten play, including two man-up. He has also added 19 ground balls and six caused turnovers so far this year.
Arceri, a 2018 First Team All-Big Ten selection, has won 201 face-offs this season on a 62.4-percent clip. He has added 129 ground balls, scored five goals and added one assist. In Big Ten play, he improved his clip to 63.2-percent with 86 wins and 58 ground balls.
Kneese, a 2018 All-Big Ten Second Team honoree, has a 12-1 record in cage on the year with a 5-0 Big Ten record. He amassed 135 saves so far this season with a .538 save percentage. Kneese's 9.75 goals against average is first in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation. His .538 save percentage is second in the Big Ten.
Spillane earned his first Big Ten postseason honor after totaling 22 goals and 15 assists on the year. He has also added 18 ground balls, four caused turnover and two game-winners.
Penn State will head to the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, May 2 to take on the No. 4 seed Rutgers at 5 p.m. Rutgers is the host of the tournament based on predetermined location. The tournament central page and tickets available here: https://gopsu.info/B1GMLAXTourney
First Team All-Big Ten:
Joe Epstein, Johns Hopkins
Jared Bernhardt, Maryland
Curtis Corley, Maryland
Ryan Terefenko, Ohio State
GRANT AMENT, PENN STATE
Mac O'Keefe, Penn State
Chris Sabia, Penn State
Adam Charalambides, Rutgers
Max Edelmann, Rutgers
Kieran Mullins, Rutgers
Second Team All-Big Ten:
Pat Foley, Johns Hopkins
Cole Williams, Johns Hopkins
Logan Wisnauskis, Maryland
Alex Buckanavage, Michigan
Nick DeCaprio, Michigan
Justin Inacio, Ohio State
Tre LeClaire, Ohio State
Gerard Arceri, Penn State
Colby Kneese, Penn State
Kyle Pless, Rutgers
Offensive Player of the Year: GRANT AMENT, PENN STATE
Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Sabia, Penn State
Freshman of the Year: JOE EPSTEIN, JOHNS HOPKINS
Co-Specialists of the Year: Justin Inacio, Ohio State & Max Edelmann, Rutgers
Coach of the Year: Jeff Tambroni, Penn State
ALL CAPS indicate unanimous selection
Sportsmanship Honorees
Cole Williams, Johns Hopkins
Louis Dubick, Maryland
Tommy Heidt, Michigan
Logan Maccani, Ohio State
Nick Spillane, Penn State
Owen Mead, Rutgers
