VILLANOVA, Pa. — While often a study in motion, Grant Ament stood perfectly still.

As the first half dwindled, Penn State’s quarterbacking attackman surveyed his options. He looked relaxed. Perhaps because of Ament’s next-level vision and 96 assists last season, Villanova was reluctant to pursue him behind the cage. That was fine with the 2019 Tewaaraton finalist. He kept his head up. He flicked a pass to senior attackman Mac O’Keefe on the right wing, who then launched a shot past Will Vitton with three seconds remaining in the half to put the Nittany Lions up by seven.

It was O’Keefe’s second goal of the half and Ament’s second assist. They more than doubled those numbers in the second half.

A week after scoring 16 goals in a win against Lafayette, Penn State — the No. 1 offense in the country last season and the top team in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason Top 20 — looked like it after it spoiled Villanova’s home opener and walked away with a 19-10 win.

Ament’s second goal of the afternoon placed him atop Penn State’s all-time points leaderboard.

After a first quarter (which ended in a 4-4 tie) in which most of Penn State’s goals came off broken plays and Villanova found success attacking from X, the Wildcats could not hold back the offense that is more persistent than the traffic on Lancaster Avenue.

“I thought Villanova played really tough in that first quarter on both ends ... but I thought our guys stayed the course and were mentally tough,” Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni said.

Despite the location, the navy and white in the stands leaned overwhelmingly in Penn State’s favor. If you could only listen, you might have thought the game was at Panzer Stadium.

After Ament found a cutting Nate Buller for the Nittany Lions’ sixth goal of the afternoon, cheers of “We Are ... Penn State!” rang throughout Villanova Stadium. Seven miles away, past the Insomnia Cookies and ACME Market is The Haverford School where Ament, a Doylestown, Pa., native, honed his skills and led the Fords to a No. 1 ranking and 26-0 record his senior season. He remembers playing with Central Bucks rec lacrosse on this field before and after Villanova games. Saturday afternoon, he had around 20 family and friends in attendance.

“Always nice to get a win on Lancaster Ave,” he said.

Two years ago during this game, Ament had his right leg propped up on a scooter — the result of a foot injury he sustained in practice a couple days earlier. The Wildcats erased a five-goal fourth quarter deficit that year and won in overtime.

Last year, Ament had 10 points in a 17-7 win. This year, he had to settle for eight (three goals, five assists) in a contest that was more of the same. Less than a minute after Buller’s goal, O’Keefe threaded a pass through the Wildcat defense that redshirt-senior attackman Dylan Foulds converted with a quick stick. Face-off specialist Gerard Arceri (21-for-32) won the next draw and ran right down the middle to make the score 8-4.

While the Wildcats scored the first two goals of the second half, including an impressive swim dodge and rifle of a shot by Keeghan Khan (three goals), the Nittany Lions seemed to have every answer. Ament dodged from the wing then looked up top to O’Keefe, who rocketed home a low shot to put them up 13-7.

While Ament and O’Keefe (four goals, three assists) rightfully drew the lion’s share of the attention, what makes Penn State’s offense so dangerous is that it has many more weapons to pair with the prolific duo.

Junior midfielder Jack Kelly had four goals. Foulds notched a hat-trick.

“I think we're going to need to rely on our senior leadership this year in tough situations, but I also think they are going to step back at times and allow other people to shine and I thought that's what happened today,” Tambroni said.

Senior defenseman and captain Nick Cardile scored a man-down goal in transition with 6:41 to play in the fourth. The stands behind the Penn State bench erupted. The Villanvoa faithful began to shuffle out. Ament capped off the afternoon when he delivered a behind-the-back assist to Foulds on a fast break.

“Obviously, we get a lot of the attention, but in my opinion, we have nine All-Americans on the offense,” Ament said. “We've got a lot of talent, and it's really fun when everybody gets in the scoring column. Defense starts dancing. Offense starts dancing. It’s a lot of fun to be apart of.”

After the game Ament stood still again, but for a different reason. He spent over 15 minutes signing autographs and posing for pictures.

“What’s up No. 1, how are we doing?” he asked one fan in a white PSU football jersey.

“Were you guys chilly in the stands or were you ok?” he questioned another group.

“Some of those passes were unbelievable,” a dad told him, unable to contain his enthusiasm.

“The guys on the end of them were pretty great, too,” Ament added.

His last assist came well after the final horn sounded.

 “Excuse me, sir,” he called out to dad in a gray Villanova beanie.

Ament tossed back his pen.