Starting an extremely young lineup, the Lady Lions, in a 4-1 victory over Syracuse, proved that playing with heart can more than compensate for playing with a lack of experience.
Only five of the Lion’s starters had any considerable experience to date, the rest had little to no experience playing in college level field hockey.
“We’re so young, we will have to work out working together,” said coach Char Morett.
“I am personally pleased,” said Morett. “As time progressed we took more control.”
Chris McGinley opened the Lion’s scoring with a goal from the corner about 15 minutes into the first period. Freshman Tara Maguire sealed the victory when she tipped a shot from another freshman Jennifer Coletta past Syracuse goalie Cheri Herr.
Maguire also scored two additional second half goals for the hat trick.
“She’s everything we expected,” Morett said, “she’s a scorer, and she had another goal that was called back.”
Penn State had 15 shots on goal and allowed only 6 Syracuse shots on goal. Sophomore goaltender Paulette Thompson had three saves, and allowed only one fourth period goal. Jodi Carter, a corner from Syracuse, scored with a shot over the head of Thompson with only three minutes left in the game.
The Lady Lions will have their home opener against Rutgers Sunday at noon.