LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On Wednesday, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced the first-ever Division I Preseason Watch List for the 2018 Player of the Year, and the Penn State men’s lacrosse team saw three Nittany Lions named to the list.
Penn State saw juniors Chris Sabia and Grant Ament, and sophomore Gerard Arceri named to the list of 11 athletes.
Sabia, a 2017 second-team All-Big Ten selection and USILA All-America honorable mention, led Penn State with 20 caused turnovers and ranked second in groundballs with 26. His 32 career caused turnovers lead all current Penn State players. The Inside Lacrosse All-America honorable mention honoree added an assist in the Nittany Lions’ NCAA tournament game against Towson and scored a goal at Harvard in March.
Ament, earned his first USILA All-America honor when he was named honorable mention in 2017, following a season in which he led Penn State in points with 60 total (30 goals, 30 assists). He ranked 21st in the nation and second in the Big Ten in point production, averaging 3.75 points per game. Ament became Penn State’s 24th 100-point scorer during the 2017 season, with his 114 career points tied for 20th in program history.
Arceri, an Inside Lacrosse All-America honorable mention honoree, handled the faceoff duties in his freshman campaign, going 196-317 from the ‘x’. His .618 faceoff win percentage ranked sixth best in the country, while his 6.87 groundballs per game came in at 12th nationally. Arceri added five goals in his rookie campaign, each the result of the fast break following faceoff wins.
Only one other team has multiple athletes honored as Ohio State saw Tre Leclaire and Ben Randall named to the list. The Big Ten also saw Maryland’s Connor Kelly listed.
The award will be presented to the nation’s most outstanding men’s lacrosse player as voted on by each respective divisions All American Coach Committee. Past Division I honorees include two-time winners Larry Quinn (Johns Hopkins, 1984, '85), Gary Gait (Syracuse, 1988, '90), Casey Powell (Syracuse, 1997, '98), Matt Danowski (Duke, 2007, '08), Rob Pannell (Cornell, 2011, '13) and Lyle Thompson (Albany, 2014, '15), along with 2017 winner Matt Rambo of Maryland.
Updates to the “watch list” will be released on March 12 and April 16, while three finalists will be announced on May 7. The winners for Division I, II and III will be announced at the Final Four banquets (Division I on May 24 and Divisions II/III on May 25) at Gillette Stadium.