UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 29, 2005 - The No. 18 Penn State men's lacrosse team (8-5, 4-1) won its sixth consecutive game tonight defeating Villanova (7-7, 3-2 CAA), 10-5, in front of 772 fans at Jeffrey Field. Junior attackman Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.) led the Lions in scoring for the fourth straight game with four points to extend his scoring streak to 40 games.

Penn State shutout the Wildcats in the first quarter 5-0. Senior captain Will Jones (Annapolis, Md.) tallied the first goal of the game when he found the back of the net at the 10:16 mark. Junior midfielder Greg Gurenlian (Springfield, Pa.) won the ensuing face-off and assisted Whitaker on a goal seven seconds later to put the Nittany Lions up 2-0. Attackman Brian Boyle (Derry, N.H.) notched two consecutive goals, including a man-down goal, in four minutes to give Penn State a 4-0 lead. Attackman John Eremus (Rosemont, Pa.) closed the scoring in the quarter with a goal on an assist from Whitaker with 1:32 remaining.

Villanova responded in the second quarter with two straight goals. Wildcat attackman Brendan O'Donnell found the back of the net both times to cut the Nittany Lion lead to 5-2. Attackman Max Van Arsdale (Rochester, N.Y.) tallied the lone goal of the period for the Lions on an assist from Boyle to bring the halftime score to 6-2 in favor of Penn State.

The Wildcats opened the third quarter scoring two straight tallies again. Midfielder Mike Haas scored his fourth and fifth goal of the season to bring the score to 6-4. The Nittany Lions answered back when Will Cutler (Vienna, Va.) found the back of the net twice in six minutes to give Penn State an 8-4 lead.

The Penn State defense made a stand in the fourth quarter allowing one extra-man goal in the period from Wildcat midfielder Dan Fanelli. Whitaker and Van Arsdale each scored their second goals of the game with four minutes remaining in the quarter to seal the 10-5 victory. Freshman goalkeeper Chris Courteau (Buffalo, N.Y.) faced 26 shots and made 10 saves in 54 minutes of play.

Penn State will travel to Georgetown on May 8 to battle the Hoyas in a crucial ECAC game. The meeting is the final regular season game of the year for the Lions.

GOAL - (ASSISTS):
PSU 1st quarter
Will Jones
Nate Whitaker - (Greg Gurenlian)
Brian Boyle
Brian Boyle - (Tommy Zichelli)
John Eremus - (Nate Whitaker)

2nd quarter
Max Van Arsdale - (Brian Boyle)

3rd quarter
Will Cutler - (Nate Whitaker)
Will Cutler

4th quarter
Nate Whitaker - (Will Cutler)
Max Van Arsdale


VU 1st quarter
no scoring

2nd quarter
Brendan O'Donnell - (Chris MacDonald)
Brendan O'Donnell

3rd quarter
Mike Haas
Mike Haas - (Marc Creegan)

4th quarter
Dan Fanelli - (Marc Creegan)

SAVES:
PSU
Chris Courteau (54:06 minutes, 5 goals allowed, 10 saves)
Derek Howells (00:54 minutes, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)
VU
Joseph Canuso (52:36 minutes, 10 goals allowed, 9 saves)
Dan Biser (2:24 minutes, 0 goals allowed, 0 saves)

GROUNDBALLS:
PSU, 26: VU, 33
EMO: PSU, 0-7: VU, 2-8