Ament Breaks Career Points Record in 19-10 Win at No. 20 VillanovaAment Breaks Career Points Record in 19-10 Win at No. 20 Villanova
Mark Selders

Ament Breaks Career Points Record in 19-10 Win at No. 20 Villanova

Box Score

VILLANOVA, Pa. – No. 2 Penn State scored six-straight goals in a span of three minutes, 22 seconds early in the second quarter to pull away from No. 20 Villanova on its way to a 19-10 win in non-conference men's lacrosse action Saturday at Villanova Stadium.

The Nittany Lions improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Wildcats dropped to 0-1. It was the 13th-consecutive season the in-state rivals played each other.

Senior Grant Ament finished with eight points on three goals and five assists. His second goal, which put Penn State up 10-4 midway through the second quarter, put him past Gary Martin (1981-84) as the program's all-time leader in points. He finished the game with 258 in his career.

The teams went back and forth while playing to a 4-4 tie in the first quarter before Penn State caught fire in the second. Seven players contributed either a goal or an assist during the 6-0 run, which started with a goal by Mac O'Keefe off an assist from Jack Traynor.


The next three goals in the run all came in a span of less than a minute. Nate Buller notched his first score of the season with an assist from Ament at the 11:59 mark. Dylan Foulds followed with a goal that was assisted by O'Keefe with 11:09 showing on the clock, and the next goal came just eight seconds later as Gerard Arceri won the faceoff and took it himself for the unassisted score.


Ament scored the final two goals of the 6-0 run. The first was unassisted while the second came off a pass from Cole Willard.

Traynor and O'Keefe added goals to help the Lions finish with an 8-1 advantage in the second quarter and take a 12-5 lead into halftime. O'Keefe's score came with three seconds left on the clock.

Villanova would get as close as five, 13-8, but a 4-0 Penn State run put an end to any chances of a comeback. Jack Kelly scored the first and last goal of the run, which spanned two minutes, 21 seconds, while Ament and O'Keefe had goals in between.

Neither team scored on a man-up opportunity during the game, but Penn State did score twice while playing a man down. Nick Cardile, the leader of the team's defensive unit, scored his first goal of the season with the Lions down a man, and Dylan Foulds tacked on another 14 seconds later to put the Lions up 19-9.


O'Keefe finished with seven points on four goals and three assists, while Kelly tallied four goals on five shots and Foulds recorded a hat trick. TJ Malone and Jack Traynor each registered a goal and an assist. Cardile, Buller and Arceri scored one goal apiece, while Brian Townsend and Willard chipped in with one assist apiece.

Ament is up to 18 points on seven goals and 11 assists through two games. O'Keefe is at 14 points on 10 goals and four assists.

Arceri went 21-32 on faceoffs and led all players with 18 ground balls. He is averaging 20.0 faceoff wins and 16.5 ground balls through the first two games.

Penn State is back home for its next game as it hosts Saint Joseph's for a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Feb. 15, at noon. The Hawks open their season tomorrow (Sunday) at St. Bonaventure.