Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/1/20
From Press Release
Gerard Arceri became the program’s all-time ground balls leader, Grant Ament (Haverford School) had 10 points and the No. 2 Penn State offense picked up right where it left off last season in a 16-9 win over visiting Lafayette in a non-conference men’s lacrosse matchup today at Panzer Stadium. The season-opening win moved the Nittany Lions to a perfect 6-0 at Panzer Stadium, which was opened midway through last season.
Penn State, which had the top scoring offense in the nation last season, was led by Ament with 10 points on four goals and six assists and Mac O’Keefe with six goals and an assist. Seven different Nittany Lions scored in the game, including Jack Traynor (Malvern Prep) with a pair of goals. Kevin Hill, TJ Malone (Haverford School), Dylan Foulds and Mitch Schaefer added one apiece.
The Lions were dominant on faceoffs, winning 22 of 27, including a 19-21 showing from Arceri. Jake Glatz chipped in with three faceoff wins on his six chances.
Arceri led all players with 15 ground balls to give him a Penn State record 450 for his career. His sixth ground ball of the day, which came in the second quarter, gave him the record. He passed Chris Marcus, who had 435 from 1990-93.
Nick Cardile (Avon Grove) led the Penn State defense with two groundballs and one caused turnover.
Ament’s 10 points in the game give him 250 for his career. He needs just three more to pass Radnor resident Gary Martin (1981-84) to become the program’s all-time leader. O’Keefe ranks third with 205 after tallying seven against Lafayette.
The Lions, who improved to 26-0 in the all-time series with Lafayette, now turn their attention to a road game at Villanova on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. It will be the season opener for the Wildcats. The teams will play for a 13th-consecutive season.
Andrew Robbins, Ian MacCauley and Nick Jessen each scored two goals for the Leopards.
