Game 1: Stony Brook (0-0, 0-0 AE) vs Penn State (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
LOCATION	LaValle Stadium | Stony Brook, N.Y.
DATE | TIME	Saturday, Feb. 16  |  12 p.m.
RANKINGS	Stony Brook: UR | Penn State: 4 Inside Lacrosse/4 USILA
COVERAGE	Live Stats  |  AE.tv
GAME NOTES	Stony Brook | Penn State
TICKETS	Purchase

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- An entire off-season, several practices and a pair of scrimmages are in the past now as the Stony Brook men's lacrosse team will take to the turf of Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium to begin the 2019 season on Saturday at 12 p.m. when they host fourth-ranked Penn State.

The Seawolves are coming off a 7-8 season in 2018, but did claim a share of the America East Conference regular season title with a 5-1 league record. The Nitany Lions enter this Saturday's game having already played two games in 2019. PSU defeated Villanova 17-7 and got past Robert Morris 27-10.

SEAWOLVES NOTES
• Stony Brook, the co-regular season America East Conference champions in 2018, were slated second in the preseason conference poll selected by the coaches. The Seawolves received three first-place votes and 32 points to fall just behind UAlbany's 33 points and three first-place votes.
• Stony Brook returns the top 10 goal scorers from last year's squad that includes junior Tom Haun who posted 22 goals in 2018 and junior Chris Pickel Jr.'s 21 goals from a year ago.
• The Seawolves also return the top 12 players that dished out assists in 2018 led by sophomore Jack Walsh's 25.
• Jack Walsh enters 2019 with a team-best points streak of 13 straight games.
 
SCOUTING PENN STATE
• The Nitany Lions are ranked 4th in the nation in both polls.
• Penn State opened the season with a 17-7 victory over Villanova at home and then bested Robert Morris 27-10 this past Saturday at home.
• PSU is averaging a whopping 22.0 goals per game over the first two contests in 2019.  
 
SERIES INFO
• This will mark the ninth meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1994.
• Penn State owns a 7-2 series lead.
• This will be just the fourth meeting between the two programs held at Stony Brook (PSU leads 2-1).
• Penn State defeated the Stony Brook 16-8 on Feb. 17 of last season in the last meeting.
• Stony Brook's last win over Penn State came in March 18, 2006, 11-10, at LaValle Stadium.

LAST TIME AGAINST PENN STATE
• Penn State defeated Stony Brook 15-8 in State College on Feb. 17, 2018.
• The Nitany Lions scored the first three goals of the game in the first two minutes to take control.
• Chris Pickel Jr. led the Seawolves with three goals, while Owen Daly added a pair of goals.

STONY BROOK VS RANKED OPPONENTS
The Seawolves hold a 16-89 all-time record against ranked opponents, most recently taking down No. 16 Vermont last season. That 8-7 overtime win over the Catamounts marked the first win over a ranked opponent through four tries in 2018 and was the first since taking down then-No. 10 Brown early in early 2017.

REES NAMED TO ALL_WORLD TEAM
Senior Ryland Rees was named to the All-World Team following the FIL World Championships gold medal game this past summer. Team Canada was unable to defend its title, as it fell to Team USA on a last-second goal in the world final.

ON DECK
Stony Brook will hit the road for the next two games. The Seawolves travel to Brown next Saturday before visiting Long Island rival Hofstra on Feb. 26.