UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The No. 14 Penn State men's lacrosse team has been picked to finish third in the inaugural season of Big Ten Lacrosse by the conference's coaches, as announced in the preseason poll on Tuesday.
Additionally, 2014 Academic All-Big Ten honorees JP Burnside (Garden City, N.Y.), Drake Kreinz (Delafield, Wisconsin) and TJ Sanders (Orillia, Ontario) were named Penn State's Players to Watch.
Sitting atop the preseason list was No. 5 Johns Hopkins, which made its record 42nd NCAA Tournament appearance last season. Earning berths to the second-most NCAA postseasons at 37, No. 8 Maryland came in second. Ohio State, Rutgers and Michigan rounded out the poll.
Burnside, one of Penn State's eight seniors, will be an important cog in the Nittany Lions' veteran defense this year. Last season, he helped protect the second-lowest goals against average in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) at 8.79.
One of the top faceoff specialists in the Big Ten, Kreinz returns to the X from an All-CAA Rookie Team campaign. Starting every game, he led the Blue and White to the sixth-best faceoff winning percentage in the nation (60 percent) and picked up a team-high 70 ground balls to rank 31st in the NCAA.
Sanders looks to be one of the Nittany Lions' strongest offensive threats after finishing second with 23 goals and 26 points. The 2013 CAA Rookie of the year recorded points in all but one game on the season, topping the squad with four man-up goals.
Penn State hosts its final preseason game in Holuba Hall on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. against Lehigh. Admission to the scrimmage is free of charge.