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Inside Lacrosse Preview of No. 8 Nittany Lions
Penn State Nittany Lions Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Ranking: 8 Coach Jeff Tambroni's programs have a habit of sneaking up on you. He quietly usurped the Ivy League for a decade at Cornell. Now, heading into his fourth year at Penn State, Tambroni has helped establish the Nittany Lions as a legitimate Top 10 program. With no automatic qualifier to lean on (more on that below), this senior-heavy group will need to string together an excellent regular season in order to make an NCAA Tournament push. What They Return Three of their top four scorers — attackmen Shane Sturgis and TJ Sanders, All-America midfielder Tom LaCrosse — are back. The trio combined for 94 goals last year. Senior Austin Kaut (7.37GAA, 61%) is one of the best goalies in the nation, while the defense finished No. 2 in the nation last year (7.59 goals per game) and features three returning starters in fifth-year senior Tyler Travis and juniors Jack Donnelly and JP Burnside. LSM is three deep — Kessler Brown, Steven Bogert and James Burke could all contribute at the position. What They'll Miss Attackman Jack Forster was part of the program for six years; he fought through injuries through his career and led the team in points (57) in his final season. His veteran experience will be difficult to replace, though junior attackman Kyle Baier filled the position capably last weekend against Johns Hopkins, scoring five goals. Face-off middie Danny Henneghan graduates, but both transfer Cole Yeager (Yale) and freshman Drake Kreinz were impressive against the Blue Jays in the preseason scrimmage. Monster Season Potential: Shane Sturgis, Sr., Attack It's been a quick four years for Sturgis. He was a touted rookie, earning All-CAA Rookie Team honors as a frosh, and has steadily improved since then. He's a compact 5-foot-9, 165 pounds, can attack the cage with tremendous speed and set up his fellow shooters well (he led the team with 17 assists last year). With Forster gone, Sturgis will be fully in charge of the offense this season, leaning on Baier, Sanders (44 goals last season) and LaCrosse (23G) threat as targets. Finding another outside scoring option or two would be helpful. Hopefully, if Sturgis has a big season, All-America honors will follow. Star Watch: Austin Kaut, G, Sr. The 2013 first-team All-American made 12 saves on 16 shots on goal last Saturday in Penn State's scrimmage against Johns Hopkins, so he's already starting the season in form. IL's Terry Foy also noted that Kaut showed “confidence in clearing the ball; while Tambroni said postgame that he thought Kaut took some unnecessary risks, he acknowledged two long passes — one a midfield clear that sparked a transition goal and the other a 90-yard heave to Baier that killed a Hopkins’ EMO — were very impressive.” It'll also be nice for Kaut to work with his veteran defense one more time. Rookie Ball Kreinz, as Foy noted, is “a Wisconsin native who played two years of high school lacrosse in Rhode Island before joining the Nittany Lions. He won 10-14 before subbing started with about five minutes to go in the third quarter and helped Penn State pick up an 18-12 possession advantage.” Offensive midfield prospects Mike Sutton, Nick Aponte and Nick Mazza all impressed in last summer's Under Armour All-American Classic. Including the two redshirts, there are only 12 freshmen in this class. The Staff Coach Tambroni brought up an interesting anecdote in last year's Penn State cover story for the March 2013 issue of Inside Lacrosse magazine. Since Ivy League lacrosse doesn't begin until Feb. 1, Tambroni had to focus his team quickly. Athleticism was paramount and his training sessions were legendary. At Penn State, however, practice can start as early at Jan. 1. That's a ton of extra time, and in his first few seasons at State College, Tambroni said he felt he wore out his squad too early. He adjusted last year, won the big games, and despite falling in the CAA championship to a hot Towson team, they made their first NCAA Tournament since 2005. His brethren voted him 2013 CAA Coach of the Year for his work. His staff — defensive coordinator Peter Toner, Chris Doctor and Dave Shriver — is one of the brightest groups in the game. 2014 Schedule Penn State is stuck in an unique schedule quagmire this season. The lacrosse program is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the new Big Ten conference, which starts in 2015. Per CAA rules, The Nittany Lions won't be allowed to participate in this year's four-team conference tournament. That means they won't be able to play for an automatic qualifying bid, so beating top strength of schedule opponents is becomes incredibly important. Penn State plays the 12th best strength of schedule according to Face-Off Yearbook, so they have ample opportunity to rack quality wins. Their 2014 schedule features a tough three-game road stretch against Notre Dame, to Ohio State and to Denver. Intriguing home opponents include Albany on March 22 and Villanova on March 29. Game to Circle: Feb. 15 vs. Loyola Tambroni's squad kicks off the season with an indoor contest against Michigan on Feb. 8, then goes outdoors in its second home contest to take on the Greyhounds. Loyola's attack should be a good test for Penn State's veteran defense, while Sturgis and the offense should learn from battling against Joe Fletcher and crew. To the point above, a win again the Greyhounds would be an important building block for Penn State's NCAA at-large resume.
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