Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/16/17
From Press Release
Despite an impressive fourth quarter performance, the No. 5 Penn State men’s lacrosse team (10-2, 1-2 Big Ten) could not complete the comeback bid on Saturday afternoon, as Johns Hopkins (7-4, 2-1 Big Ten) got key efforts from numerous Philly grads and defeated the Nittany Lions, 13-11, at Homewood Field.
Entering the fourth quarter with a five goal deficit, it looked as if Penn State may pull off the comeback, as the team strung together three goals in the first six minutes to cut the game to two. Following a Johns Hopkins score, senior midfielder Mike Sutton (St. Augustine Prep) picked off the top corner with 5:27 left on the clock. A bounce-shot goal courtesy of senior midfielder Dan Craig pulled the game to one before a late goal from the Blue Jays’ Joel Tinney iced the game.
For Johns Hopkins, sophomore midfielder Robert Kuhn (Moorestown/Hun School) had a whopping seven groundballs, two caused turnovers and an assist, freshman attackman Forry Smith (Haverford School) had two goals, an assist and three groundballs, freshman defenseman Jack Rapine (Upper Dublin) had four groundballs and one caused turnover, and senior d-middie Joey Carlini (Malvern Prep) had two groundballs and a caused turnover.
Sophomore attackman Grant Ament (Haverford School) led the way for the Nittany Lions behind a five-point performance on two goals and three assists. With his first assist of the day, Ament hit the 100-career point mark, becoming just the second active player on Penn State’s roster to do so, joining senior Nick Aponte who accomplished the feat earlier this season (124 career points).
Ament was one of seven Nittany Lions with a multi-point performance. Aponte finished second in points, logging four assists during the game. The four assists pushed Aponte to sole possession of 10th on Penn State’s career assists leaderboard, surpassing Shane Sturgis (Downingtown East) with 62 helpers so far. Also for Penn State, defenseman Chris Sabia (Haverford School) had two groundballs and two caused turnovers and Sutton scored twice.
Sutton, Craig and classmate Matt Florence each scored a pair of goals in the game, while freshman attackman Mac O’Keefe and junior midfielder Ryan Keenan posted a goal and an assist each. Sophomore midfielder Nick Spillane added a goal.
Despite the loss, rookie goalkeeper Colby Kneese had a strong performance, logging 15 saves and a groundball in the two-goal setback.
Penn State returns to the field after an eight-day break, hosting Rutgers on Sunday, April 23, at 7 p.m., with the game set for national broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics recognizes the 10 seniors in a pregame ceremony.
The Turning Point
Penn State pulled within three in the second quarter on a goal from Keenan with 1:40 left to go. The Blue Jays capitalized on a pair of broken plays, as Cody Radziewicz and Shack Stanwick scored during the final 38 seconds to give Johns Hopkins a five-goal lead heading into the locker room at half.
Difference Makers
Penn State
Colby Kneese – Kneese kept Penn State in the game, logging an impressive 15 saves in the cage. The output tied Penn State’s single-game high in a Big Ten game, set by Will Schreiner against Ohio State last season.
Grant Ament – Ament logged his 100th career point during his five-point performance, leading the Nittany Lions offense.
Nick Aponte – Aponte stepped up as a distributor, logging four assists while climbing to 10th all-time on Penn State’s career assists leaderboard.