The mental aspect of the Lady Lions’ field hockey game has become the key to unleashing their relentless physical game.
“Physically, we are capable of beating any team in the conference,” Becca Main said, “but to do this we have to get our mental game going.”
In Penn State’s 4-0 shutout over Ohio State the Lady Lions looked like a complete new team. They were playing with a previously absent aggression and emotion. These factors added a dimension to the Penn State team that caught everyone off guard.
The Lady Lions came into the game with a roar; they were passing aggressively, defense was unimpeachable, and for the first time this season their attack was on the move. They were playing relentless field hockey.
The Lady Lions finally began to take advantage of some key opportunities. Main, who is typically a steal and clear defender, was showing her stick skills as she dribbled the ball through the Buckeye defenders easily and skillfully.
“The passes weren’t there,” said Main, “and I had to move the ball upfield, and did what I could to help.”
On the few occasions that the ball did find its way into Penn State territory, the Lady Lion defense was quick to send it back to Buckeye territory. Penn State’s defense only allowed a single Buckeye shot on goal in the entire first half.
The McGinley-Co-captain connection did all of the first half scoring. The first came about ten minutes into the game, when McGinley, assisted by Co-captains Jen Stewart and Amy Stairs, slapped a penalty corner shot past Buckeye goalkeeper Sue Wilson. In a similar situation approaching the end of the first half, the McGinley connection hooked up again.
Penn State may have been just a little too comfortable with their 2-0 halftime lead; in the beginning of the second half the Buckeyes controlled the pace. Ohio took three quick shots on goal, and seemed to have a second chance, until Danielle Annibale stole the ball, and scored unassisted on a break away goal.
“I saw Kirt (Benedict) and thought that I would have to pass,” Annibale said. “Then the goalkeeper came running out, and hit the ball right back onto my stick when she went down. So I took advantage of the the situation, and prayed it went in.”
The Lady Lions used every available player to try to conserve some energy for the Iowa match.
“I wanted to rest some people for Sunday,” Morett said. “We have a lot of talent, so we can afford to do these things.”
The rest seemed to do the Lady Lions plenty of good, when they came out yesterday against Iowa, they still had the momentum rolling from the Ohio match, unfortunately momentum was not quite enough. The Lady Lions suffered their first loss to the undefeated Hawkeyes 2-1.
The match became a battle of the midfields, and it was quite evenly matched. The ball never spent an extended period of time in either territory. Chris Blais was key to the Lion defense, any time the ball was on the move Blais was either responsible or in hot pursuit.
Both Blais and Main played above and beyond the call of duty. Not only were they impassable on defense, they were key to the attack.
“We stepped everything up a notch today,” said Blais. “Everybody wanted this one real bad.”
The scoring in in the match didn’t start until late in the first half. Kristy Gleason, who has 79 career goals, with an assist from Jamie Rofrano and scored on a penalty corner with seven minutes left in the half.
The goal didn’t seem to phase the Lady Lion morale. The Lady Lions marched back down the field with authority, 43 seconds later, Tara Maguire fed Mcginley a hard pass from close to the sideline. McGinley, in turn, scored on a slapshot to the opposite corner past Sue Wilson, who was goalkeeper for the United States team.
The remainder of the half was gridlocked, and both teams gave and took key opportunities. This continued into the second half, and both teams seemed unwilling to budge.
Iowa coach, Beth Beglin vowed to target Penn State’s freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister, and test her skills. Meister had seven saves to answer Beglin’s vow. The Lady Lion defense had an answer of their own, not to let Iowa’s attack near the goal. Both succeded, Iowa’s only scores came on penalty corners.
It was one of the most evenly matched games in the conference. The cards could have fallen in either direction. Penn State had three penalty corner shot opportunities and Iowa had two. It seemed as if the game were going into overtime. With only three minutes remaining, Penn State had a penalty corner opportunity, but failed to convert.
Iowa then answered 30 seconds later with their own penalty corner, when a push from behind was called on the Lady Lions. Gleason, with the assist from Rofrano and Bybel, scored the game winner.
“We were pushing the entire game,” said Blais, “it was a physical match, and sometimes it happens. There’s not much you can do except do better.”
The goal seemed to take the wind out of the Lady Lion sails, but they still managed to put forth an effort to score. In the last seconds Main made an attempt to clear the ball, however, time ran out before the ball made it out of bounds.
The Lady Lions prooved that despite their lack of experience, they could match the best. They made a major statement with their entrance into the Big Ten. With one wrong step by a goalkeeper or a harder shot by a forward, Penn State could’ve beat the best. They are still hungry and plan to maintain this level of play throughout the season.
“We play UPenn away on Tuesday, and have a few more big games before we play Iowa again,” said Stairs. “That’s when we are going to show them how it feels to loose at home.”