I’d be lying if I were to say that I’m some sort of lifelong lacrosse fan.

My sport growing up was baseball, and we didn’t always very much like all of lacrosse counterparts. Throughout middle school and high school, you could find hormonal guys arguing about which sport was better, more difficult, or more important.

I never really watched a lacrosse game in its entirety before coming to Penn State, so I had this notion that it was a flat sport. When I say flat, I mean that I thought that there would be so much scoring that any single goal would be relatively unimportant. I also thought that lacrosse would just be hockey, but without the challenge of skating.

Some time away from high school allowed me to take a fresh look at lacrosse in the form of Penn State lacrosse, and let me tell you, it’s worth going to a game for a variety of reasons.

First of all, this Penn State lacrosse team is really good. They’ve turned in some terrific performances so far this season, including a dismantling of Cornell during THON weekend and a comeback win over then No. 8 Penn. They are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the Nike/USL Division I Top-20.

This lacrosse team has some absolute studs. In terms of showcasing terrific talent game in and game out, Penn State is second to none. Freshman Mac O’Keefe is an excellent example of this talent — O’Keefe has racked up 29 goals in just 7 games. The young attacker from New York has certainly made waves thus far this season.

Penn State also has some huge games on their upcoming schedule. Nittany Lion fans can look forward to matchups against No. 17 Ohio State and No. 5 Rutgers in Happy Valley. You can also catch televised away games against No. 4 Maryland and perennial power No. 14 Johns Hopkins if you really are feeling the love for lacrosse.

The support for the team is also palpable. Fans pack either the outdoor field or Holuba Hall for every home game, and they know the sport. These fans are essentially on the edge of their seats throughout the entire game and you can really feel it. It makes the viewing experience that much more enjoyable.

Finally, if you’ve never been to the lacrosse field just south of the BJC, there’s a big hill that backs up to the edge of the turf. You can essentially picnic on the hill (which people fill up with blankets and more) which is a pretty cool experience when it comes to watching college sports.

Penn State lacrosse is among the best teams in the nation, and coming out to see a game is well worth it. Trust me, a former hater.