PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The No. 1 Penn State men's lacrosse team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Final with a 18-6 victory over No. 4 seed Rutgers on Thursday evening in HighPoint.Com Stadium on the University of Rutgers campus.
Penn State moves to 13-1 on the year, setting a new program record for wins in a single season. The win over Rutgers also marks the first postseason win for the Blue & White.
Penn State started slow in the first quarter, going 3-2 with the host, but over the second and third quarters the Nittany Lions combined for 12 goals to take a healthy lead that they maintained throughout the game.
Along with the Nittany Lions offensive out-put, Penn State held Rutgers scoreless in the second quarter and the starting unit allowed just four goals during its time on the field.
Penn State saw redshirt-junior Grant Ament lead the offense with seven points, scoring a tied-season high four goals and dishing out three assists. Ament's seven points set a new high in a Big Ten Tournament game by the Nittany Lions, as was his three assists. Ament is now at 95 points on the season, which is a Big Ten single season record.
Freshman TJ Malone added four goals, while junior Mac O'Keefe added four points with three goals and a helper.
O'Keefe is now at 54 goals on the season, which sets the Penn State record, which O'Keefe set in 2017 with 51.
The Nittany Lions also go offensive production from seven other players. Senior Nick Spillane and sophomore Jack Kelly both tallied three-point games, Spillane with a goal and two helpers, and Kelly with two goals and an assist. Seniors Matt Donnelly and Robby Black, as well as freshman Jack Traynor and Brett Hobbs each added a goal. Defenseman Nick Cardile added an assist.
Penn State went 5-5 on the extra man as well, while holding Rutgers to 0-2 on its attempts.
Defensively, Penn State made a statement holding Rutgers to just six goals, well below their season average of 11.71. Cardile finished the game with a team-high two caused turnovers, adding four ground balls. Mike Aronow, Tommy Wright, Black and O'Keefe all added caused turnovers, while Chris Sabia added five ground balls.
In cage, junior Colby Kneese recorded the win with 11 saves in 50:46 in cage, and senior Trevor Scollins added four saves in just over nine minutes.
With the win, Penn State advances to the Big Ten Tournament Final at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening at HighPoint.Com Stadium against the winner of the second semifinal between Johns Hopkins and Maryland.