Calling Penn State men’s lacrosse’s start to the season a disappointment would be an understatement, to say the least.

After coming into the season as the No. 8 team in the country, the Nittany Lions sit at 1-3 after four games.

Penn State’s most recent game was a shellacking at the hands of Johns Hopkins. Jeff Tambroni’s squad’s offense was ineffective and limited to only six goals in the 13-6 loss. Hopkins also held the Nittany Lions without a shot in the entire third quarter. It was a nightmare for the Nittany Lions, who have also dropped games to No. 17 Rutgers and No. 4 Maryland to open the season.

Let’s take a look at some key numbers that can better put into context and potentially explain the Nittany Lions’ poor start to the season.

6

Penn State’s six-goal output against the Blue Jays last Saturday was the lowest goal in 63 games for the Nittany Lions. You would need to go back to the 8-6 loss in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament against Maryland to find an equally low goal sum in a game.

Back in 2019, the last full regular season any college lacrosse team had, the Nittany Lions ranked first in the country in goals per game, averaging almost 18. Even in the seven games Penn State played before the shutdown last season, the Nittany Lions ranked fifth in the country in goals per game with 17.29.

Through four content this season, Penn State is putting the ball in the back of the net an average of 9.25 times a game. There are deeper reasons for Penn State’s offensive struggles, but it’s easy to see on the surface that the Nittany Lions are scoring fewer goals than in years past.

26.2%

Underneath the surface, the Nittany Lions’ offensive success in past years can be summed up by one stat: shooting percentage. Back in 2019, the Nittany Lions finished the season first in the entire country in shooting percentage, scoring on approximately 43% of all shots they took. Since 2010, the 2019 Nittany Lions had the most efficient offenses in college lacrosse.

Some experts even deem the 2019 Penn State offense as the best in college lacrosse history.

It’s unrealistic to expect a Penn State team that lost Grant Ament to continue to be one of the best in college lacrosse, but a 17% decrease in shooting percentage is a steep dropoff. The Nittany Lions went from first to 46th in the country in this statistical category, only one spot over 0-4 Michigan, which is last in the Big Ten standings.

When you have an offense that boasts Mac O’Keefe, TJ Malone, Dylan Foulds, a plethora of other talented, and high-rated attackmen, a 17% decrease in shooting percentage is a concern for Tambroni and his staff.

7

O’Keefe became the star man of the Penn State offense entering this season following Ament’s departure to play in the PLL for the Archers. The graduate student from Syosset, New York also had the opportunity to go pro but decided to run it back one more time with Penn State. This year hasn’t been sunshine and roses so far for the Nittany Lions captain, who has only seven goals through four games.

In Tambroni’s eyes, there are a couple of reasons for O’Keefe’s slow start to the season.

“His game over the last three, four years has been defined as a shooter and high volume goal scorer when given the opportunity,” Tambroni said. “I don’t think we’ve done a good job of creating those opportunities for him as in years past.”

O’Keefe possesses two of the top single-season goal records in Penn State history and is on the cusp of 200 career goals after scoring goals No. 198 and 199 against Hopkins. O’Keefe’s slowest offensive season came in 2018 when he only had 35 goals. The 2018 season and 2021 season so far have one thing in common: no Ament, who missed all of 2018 with an injury.

“Grant is one of those players who makes everyone else better when he’s on the field,” Tambroni said. “That definitely has something to do with it.”

The lack of Ament has meant O’Keefe has changed his role in the Penn State offense, being more of an off-ball facilitator who is becoming more comfortable off the dodge. He has also evolved to be more of a pass-first type of guy. O’Keefe’s new role in the offense is something Penn State needs him to be at the current moment. Tambroni is confident he can be successful in that new role without forcing things in the offensive end.

With all of this being said, the lack of goal scoring from the entire Penn State offense makes O’Keefe’s lack of goals even more noticeable. The attackman’s goal-scoring output is something that needs to pick up again if Penn State wants to get out of its slump.

4

We’re through four games this season, and all of Penn State’s opponents are currently inside the top 25. The two early-season losses came in an away game to No. 17 Rutgers then a home game to No. 4 Maryland, which is the best team in the Big Ten. The only win of the season was over a very solid No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes team.

The loss to Hopkins was the only blemish at that current moment, but now the Blue Jays sit as the No. 15 team in the country. Three losses to three ranked teams aren’t the worse resume in the world.

The good news is No. 17 Penn State plays Michigan on Saturday, who is currently the worst team in the Big Ten. The bad news is that game is immediately followed by rematches against Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, and Ohio State.

The Big Ten is a gauntlet, but a 1-3 start against some of the best competition in the country means that Penn State can easily turn the season on its head with a couple of wins down the stretch.