Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/16/17
From Press Release
The USILA named its All-America selections for the 2017 season, with five Penn State men’s lacrosse players in seniors Nick Aponte and Mike Sutton (St. Augustine Prep), sophomores Grant Ament (Haverford School) and Chris Sabia (Haverford School) and freshman Mac O’Keefe all earning honorable mentions.
The five selections mark the most ever by Penn State in a single season, topping the previous high of four set in 1956 and 1958. Penn State now has 136 USILA All-America selections all-time, with 32 making the top three teams.
Aponte, a two-time consensus First Team All-Big Ten performer, capped off a stellar season with 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points, tied for 10th most in a single season in program history. The Inside Lacrosse All-America honorable mention finished his Penn State tenure with 140 career points on 70 goals and 70 assists, ranking the 11th most by a Penn State player all-time. His 70 career assists rank eighth most in program history.
Sutton, a 2015 All-Big Ten honorable mention, earns his first All-America nod following a season in which he finished fifth on Penn State’s roster in points with 24 on 19 goals and five assists. Sutton’s 19 goals marked the most on the roster excluding the members of Penn State’s starting attack. He finished the season strong, logging eight goals in the final five regular season games.
Ament, earns his first All-America honor following a season in which he’s led Penn State in points with 60 total (30 goals, 30 assists). The sophomore ranked 21st in the nation and second in the Big Ten in point production, averaging 3.75 points per game. Ament became Penn State’s 24th 100-point scorer during the 2017 season, with his 114 career points tied for 20th in program history.
Sabia, a Second Team All-Big Ten selection, earns the honorable mention following a season in which he led Penn State with 20 caused turnovers and ranked second in groundballs with 26. His 32 career caused turnovers lead all current Penn State players. The Inside Lacrosse All-America honorable mention added an assist in the Nittany Lions’ NCAA tournament game against Towson and scored a goal at Harvard in March.
O’Keefe earns the All-America honorable mention after setting a program single-season goal scoring record with 51 goals in 2017. The six-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, O’Keefe finished his rookie campaign with 56 points on 51 goals and five assists. Scoring in every game of his freshman season, O’Keefe’s 16-game scoring streak is the fifth longest of its kind nationally.
The five helped guide Penn State to a program record-tying 12 wins and the fourth-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.
