The Nittany Lions are ready to take on Michigan this Saturday in State College. The faceoff will take place in Holuba Hall at 1 pm.
Penn State Men’s Lacrosse program is excited and ready to compete in their first home game of the season. After warming up with two exhibition games last week, the Lions are hopefully going to build off the momentum from those games and take down rival Michigan.
Penn State’s defense is tough and only getting stronger, and that is going to be a key factor in the outcome of Saturday’s matchup. If juniors Donnelley and Burnside bring the heat there is no question that the Nittany Lions’ defense will be on point for this game.
Another factor that will lead to Penn State’s success during Saturday’s game will be if their leading scorers show up. TJ Sanders performed well during both exhibition games and it looks as if he has improved since last season. Sanders was the lead scorer for the Nittany Lions last year and he was also named the CAA rookie of the year. If the defense and scorers can build upon the success of the exhibition games, there is no reason the Nittany Lions won’t take down the Wolverines.
Michigan and their Head Coach John Paul are hoping for a different outcome. After taking the win in their exhibition game last Saturday against Marquette, the Wolverines are on a post-game high.
Their defense was strong and the match started out with Michigan scoring six unreturned goals. The team is hoping that the tone they set during their exhibition game will continue throughout the Wolverine’s season.
Michigan’s Freshman attackman Ian King is definitely a player to watch this season. He was ranked as a top 50 player coming out of high school, and last week’s exhibition match was definitely proof of his skill. Junior Andrew Potnoy has also returned hoping for one of his best seasons yet, scoring four goals against Marquette.
Even though the Wolverines exhibit weakness in their passing abilities, they are a team that takes advantage of situations in which they can score goals and that will definitely contribute to the success of their play on Saturday.
Saturday’s match will definitely be a close one with both teams having a great pre-season showing. The Nittany Lions have a definite home-field advantage, and I am excited to see how the presence of the student section will influence play of both teams. Penn Staters love any chance to cheer against Michigan, so the morale in Holuba Hall will definitely be high on Saturday.
