Senior Nate Whitaker was named ECAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring four goals to lead Penn State to a 7-5 win over No. 7 UMass on Saturday.

State College, Pa. - April 4, 2006 - Penn State Nittany Lion men's lacrosse player Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.) has been named ECAC Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending April 2, 2006. Whitaker shares the honor with Hobart's Nick Currie.

The senior attacker earned the award after scoring four of Penn State's seven goals in the Nittany Lions' 7-5 win over No. 7 and league-leading UMass on Saturday. The Nittany Lion senior captain had two of his goals in the fourth quarter, the only two goals scored in the final stanza. Whitaker connected on a sizzling .667 percent of his shots, scoring four times on six shots taken. He also had two ground balls in the contest. This marks the third time in his career that Whitaker has received an ECAC Player of the Week award.

The four points via the four goals also moved the four-year starter into tenth place on Penn State's all-time career scoring list. He now has 127 career points (88 goals and 39 assists), putting him in tenth place on Penn State's all-time scoring list. Next up for the senior to pass is ninth-place Tom Lion, who had 131 points in 1981-84.

Whitaker will lead Penn State into action this Saturday when the 18th-ranked Nittany Lions, under the guidance of head coach Glenn Thiel, take on Hobart at 1 p.m. in Geneva, N.Y. Penn State is 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the ECAC, tied for second place.