While watching a Penn State men's lacrosse game, it's easy to lose track of junior attacker Will Driscoll, but anyone who goes to a game would definitely know he was there.

Driscoll plays primarily off the ball in the Nittany Lion offense. He rarely has the ball in his stick for more than a split second, but that's all he usually needs to chalk another one up in the goal column for the Lions.

Using his uncanny ability to get open on the crease and to finish from that position, Driscoll has become one of the most dominant scorers in collegiate lacrosse. He is currently ninth in the nation in goals per game with 33 in the Lions' 11 games. He has registered eight hat tricks, and has scored a goal in every game this season.

"He doesn't handle the ball much," Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said. "But he's an excellent off-ball player. He works off picks, finds the open spot on the crease, receives the ball at just the right spot in the loaded position, and finishes."

Senior defender Jan Northrop usually ends up defending Driscoll in scrimmages in practice, and gets to see his ability to light up scoreboards first hand.

"No matter how hard you check him, he's still going to get open," Northrop said. "And he's going to catch anything you throw at him."

Driscoll's skill as a finisher on the crease comes from a great work ethic, and extreme dedication to anything he gets himself involved in. Driscoll has always gone beyond his team's call of duty.

He would stay at home for enough time to eat after lacrosse practice when he played at Fairport High School, in Fairport, N.Y. But shortly after he would go back down to the school to practice stick drills, throwing the ball against a wall. As a quarterback on the school's football team, he spent hours studying film under the tutelage of his father Mike, an assistant coach on the team.

He achieved success in both sports, guiding his football team to a state title, and leading his lacrosse team to the state semifinals and making the All-County team three times.

"Will was always a first-to-get-there, last-to-leave type guy," Fairport lacrosse coach Randy Garrett said. "He would never miss any practices, any workouts. Even now, when he comes back from school at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and in the summer to help out at clinics we have for the younger guys, he never misses. I think it's just because he has so much enthusiasm for the game."

In college, nothing has changed.

"Driscoll is always one of the first guys at practice," assistant coach Lars Tiffany said. "You see him down there working on the main parts of his game, putting in extra work at getting open. He's a left-handed shooter, but he's done a lot of work on shooting right-handed just to make himself that much more dangerous.

"He knows his role and continually works on it. He works hard at being the best there is at what he does, and that's putting the ball away."

Driscoll has always made sure he put time into developing himself physically as well as working on his skills. He had to step that work up over the off-season to combat a slight weight problem he had coming into the fall season.

"I was a little overweight for my standards coming into the fall," Driscoll said. "So I talked to our weight trainer Brad (Pantall) about a diet. I cut down on grains, replaced those with fruits and vegetables, and started to do a lot of cardiovascular work.

"It's been a lot easier to move around and get into the routine of physical practices."

Driscoll's workout not only got him back in the shape he needed to be in, but also improved other parts of his game.

He has become one of the attack's best defenders on the ride, doing a lot to stall the opposition's clearing game. He has picked up 26 groundballs this season to lead all attackmen.

"He really hustles on the ride," Tiffany said. "He's not the fastest athlete, but he makes plays defensively. He's going to do whatever he can to pick up those ground balls."

With 12 seniors graduating and just four players in the returning junior class, Driscoll will have to step up as the team's offensive leader next season.

"It's definitely something I'm looking forward to (next season)," he said. "It will be a new role for me. I think I can handle it. I'm kind of quiet, but I like to give speeches at times, and I think I will be able to address whatever problems come up."

His teammates have confidence that Driscoll can be a leader.

"He's definitely a lead by example type kid," Northrop said. "He's gonna be a great leader, without a doubt."

If he can get his team to emulate his work ethic, he can be as quiet as he wants to be.