No. 1 Penn State men’s lacrosse (3-0) remained unbeaten this year after beating Saint Joseph’s (1-1) 19-4 in its second home game of 2020.

Mac O’Keefe led the Nittany Lions with six goals. Kevin Hill and Seamus Glynn followed with two goals each to help lead the team to a fairly routine victory on Saturday afternoon.

How It Happened

Penn State won the opening faceoff on Saturday, but St. Joseph’s actually opened the scoring in the game. The visitors were quick to respond to Penn State’s first missed shot with a goal, but Mac O’Keefe quickly equalized for Jeff Tambroni’s team.

TJ Malone added to the scoreboard shortly after O’Keefe got another goal to put Penn State up 3-1. St. Joseph’s goalie Mike Alder made just two saves throughout the first quarter, but he wasn’t quick enough on a late goal by Grant Ament.

The Nittany Lions won the second quarter faceoff, but failed to capitalize as Jack Traynor turned the ball over. After four shots that were just too far wide, O’Keefe put his third and fourth goals of the afternoon on the board.

Traynor scored his first goal of the game after battling off two St. Joseph’s defenders to further extend the Nittany Lions’ lead. Like clockwork, O’Keefe fired another goal from behind his back to push the score to 8-1. St. Joseph’s closed out the half with an own goal, and Penn State goalie Colby Kneese was strong with eight saves on nine chances in the first half.

Dyaln Foulds opened up the second half with his first goal of the game, which pushed Penn State’s goal totals to double-digits. Shortly after Foulds’ tally, Kneese got tripped up in the net, and that allowed the Hawks to get their second goal of the game.

O’Keefe wouldn’t let up as he contributed another goal late in the third. Redshirt senior Kevin Hill got in on the fun, as he scored his second goal of the season with less than a minute to go in the third.

Right at the end of the last quarter, Jack Kelly scored a clean goal with a gorgeous behind-the-back shot. Seamus Glynn also contributed to the game after coming off the bench. Joe White saw an opening between defenders to push the Nittany Lions lead 15-2.

Late in the game, the Hawks were still fighting by adding two more goals before time ran out. That wasn’t enough to come back and defeat the Nittany Lions as Penn State took down St. Joseph’s 19-4.

Takeaways

• The duo of Mac O’Keefe and Grant Ament has destroyed countless defenses over their dazzling collegiate careers, and you can now add St. Joseph’s to that list. Ament scored a goal and chipped in six assists while O’Keefe produced a double-hat trick on Saturday.
• For the third consecutive weekend, the Nittany Lions came out slow in the first quarter by giving up a sloppy goal, but after regrouping, they quickly got back on track. The team’s struggles didn’t extend throughout the first quarter, which is a sign of progress.
• Penn State looked good throughout this game, but it’ll have to keep up this momentum for Yale next week. The Bulldogs are the defending national runners-up after taking out Penn State in the Final Four, and they’re currently ranked No. 3 in the nation.

What’s Next

Penn State will stay home next Saturday, February 22 to face out-of-conference opponent Yale. The game is scheduled for noon and will be streamed on BTN+.