When Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni describes this season as unlike anything he’s ever experienced, he’s not just talking about pandemic restrictions.
That’s some of it, of course, but the Nittany Lions (1-2) have dealt with more moving pieces than most teams early in the season.
Starting midfielder Jack Traynor and defenseman Brayden Peck, a multi-year starter, have missed back-to-back games. Midfielder Cole Willard left a Feb. 26 loss to Maryland in the first half with an injury. Dan Reaume, who started the first two games in the midfield, didn’t play in Saturday’s 15-13 defeat of Ohio State.
“It’s been more challenging than we even imagined,” Tambroni said. “I think [going] into the season, you anticipate certain things are going to happen. Everyone deals with an element of whether it’s injury or distractions that are maybe a little unforeseen, but you prepare for things like that the best you can.”
In fairness to Penn State, it’s already faced Big Ten leaders Maryland and Rutgers in the first portion of the Big Ten’s double round robin. And there were hints against Ohio State that the Nittany Lions were getting closer to fully figuring things out last weekend.
TJ Malone, switched from attack to midfield, had five goals and two assists, while Dylan Foulds added four goals. Even while it was still shorthanded, Penn State shot 34.9 percent against Ohio State. The Nittany Lions managed just 21.1 percent in their first two games.
“It’s going to be with all of us all the way through to the end,” Tambroni said. “Just learning to continue to adapt and do as good a job as we can of limiting the distraction and focusing 100 percent on what we have available, versus what’s not available. It’s been a tough lesson to learn this year because it happens in such significant portions that it’s been challenging. I’m hopeful the majority of it is behind us.”
Saturday also marked veteran attackman Mac O’Keefe’s most productive game of the season. O’Keefe scored 78 goals in 2019 and 28 goals in seven games a year ago, but had just two goals on 12 shots in the two losses to open the year.
He found the net three times against Ohio State as Penn State continues to sort out its offense while dealing with absences and adjusting to the graduation of star table-setter Grant Ament.
“We’ve just been beaten up around him, and I don’t think we’ve had the same unit on the field in a game or a practice yet,” Tambroni said. “When we have a little more firepower and are healthy, and I think it just started to change against Ohio State, we’ll be able to do a little bit more creating shots off the dodge and hopefully creating more opportunities for Mac as well.”