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NCAA D1 Penn State Men's Lacrosse O'Keefe, Loftus Lead In Your Face Awards to End February
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O’Keefe, Loftus Lead In Your Face Awards to End February

Didn’t have time to checkout the entire In Your Face LaxCast we dropped LIVE on Wednesday? Don’t sweat up, you can check out the odds and our picks at your leisure.

While you’re here, you may as well scroll on down and see who we picked for our PLAYERS and COACHES of the week and what game you should really keep your eyes on this weekend!

Are there really awards? No. Maybe a Big Mac the next time we cross paths. Instead it’s all about giving recognition where it’s deserved. Let’s look at who tore it up from 2/22 – 3/1.

In Your Face Players of the Week

Towers’ Pick: Mac O’Keefe, Penn State

https://www.facebook.com/pennstatemenslacrosse/photos/rpp.323046394376251/1526398107374401/?type=3&theater

Class: Freshman
Position: Attackman
Hometown: Syosset, NY
Points: 24 goals, 3 assists
Recent: 9 goals in 17-12 win over Villanova. 4th-straight PSU win.

“Hard to not look at Mac O’Keefe with 8G’s as a freshman. Is he gonna have 9G’s this week? Who’s covering him? Who’s covering Mac? Geez, unbelievable. I can’t get over it. 24 goals in four games.” – Andy Towers

Watch #3 O’Keefe get after it against Cornell…

Danehy’s Pick: Richie Loftus, Dartmouth

Class: Junior
Position: Attackman
Hometown: Dallas, TX
Points: 8 goals, 1 assist
Recent: 5 goals in 11-9 win over UVM. 1st Dartmouth win of 2017.

“Dartmouth gets their first win of the season under Richie Loftus’ five goals against UVM. Huge game for the Big Green out there in Hanover… Huge momentum swing going into a weekend where they need to pick up yet another win. So, great job.” – Ryan Danehy

#23 Loftus puts up 5 goals in the Dartmouth win…

Towers’ Backup: Reed Junkin, Penn

Class: Sophomore
Position: Goalie
Hometown: Wayland, MA
Saves: 31 saves on 46 shots
Recent: 16 saves in 11-10 win over Virginia. Penn’s now 2-0 to start 2017.

“I go with Reed Junkin, he’s playing great. He was the preseason Ivy League goal tender for firstteam and proved that he or has proved to this point … He’s got a stiff test this weekend with Penn State coming up, but he’s proved that he is a strength on a team that’s extremely strong. Credit our boy Quint with being a huge advocate for the Quakers early because they are showing.” – Andy Towers

Danehy’s Backup: Cole Johnson, Army

https://www.facebook.com/ArmyLacrosse/photos/a.375298525863666.83405.138363922890462/1354531101273732/?type=3&theater

Class: Senior
Position: Attackman
Hometown: Bellevue, WA
Points: 11 goals, 4 assists
Recent: 3 goals and 1 assist in 14-13 thriller at Syracuse. Buzzer-beating win in the Carrier Dome.

“You don’t get to see Army play some of those teams that you’d like them to play but either case Army is very, very underrated. Expect to see them going long through the season on the heels of a guy like Cole Johnson, who’s going 3-1 versus Cuse. In the Dome. Very hard place to play as we’ve stated multiple times before. ” – Ryan Danehy

In Your Face Coaches of the Week

Towers’ Coach of the Week: Brian Brecht, Rutgers
Danehy’s Coach of the Week: Mike Murphy, Penn

In Your Face Game of the Week

#1 Maryland at #4 Notre Dame

Notre Dame vs. Maryland Men's Lacrosse 2014 NCAA National Championship Semi-Final Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan O'Keefe, Loftus Lead In Your Face Awards to End February
Credit: Craig Bisacre

When: Saturday, March 4th – 12pm EST
Where: Arlotta Stadium, South Bend, IN
Watch: ACC Network and Watch ESPN app.

“This is a really tough game. The fact that [Maryland] is going to play at Notre Dame, I think that that’s a really tough place to play for anyone. Maryland has proved that they’re willing to play fast. They’re gonna be a really tough team to match up with. The reality is, Gerry Byrnes’ defense, they don’t really need to win one on one match ups because they’re so well versed in play as one group. I think that they’re gonna slow Maryland down offensively, for sure…

I give the edge in goal to Notre Dame with Shane Doss. Maryland is gonna struggle to cover Ryder Garnsey and I think that Notre Dame is gonna score some goals. Even though Maryland is going in as the higher ranked team, I think that Notre Dame is gonna find a way to win this game.” – Andy Towers

“The most important thing for Maryland is the first 15 seconds of every single possession. Get the ball to number one. You get the ball to him, everything takes care of itself. [Rambo] can feed, he can dodge, he can shoot. He can shoot out of the dodge, he can shoot time and room. He can bully you around. He’s always a threat off ball. He’s a scary player. Get the ball to one.

Notre Dame on the other hand won’t have an answer, cause the hardest thing to do is to play transition defense and if they start fast in the first 10-15 seconds of the possession, they’re gonna have a lot of success versus a Maryland team. They’re gonna dominate the face-off X, despite Notre Dame’s success at the face-off. There’s no one that can stop with the Henningsen right now. Expect him to play. This is a big game!” – Ryan Danehy

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Don’t miss the next In Your Face LaxCast sponsored by SISU Guard on Wednesday LIVE at 9 am EST. Where? Right here on LaxAllStars.com, of course!