Jim Woods

Senior Icer Ben Bouma said he rediscovered his calling when his coaches placed the three-year starting forward on defense in the Blue-White game last week.

“All of the instinct came back,” Bouma said. “I feel real comfortable there.”

Bouma originally started as a defender in high school, but since then, he’s become a vital part of the Icers’ front line. This transformation came partially because Bouma lacks the mass of a typical defender. But what Bouma lacks in size, he makes up for in his blazing speed and his elusive stick skill.

In his three years as a forward, he has scored 45 goals, and is 25th on the all time scorer list for the Icers.

“I have always believed he was one of the most talented athletes on the team,” Coach Joe Battista said. “He handles the puck with a lot of poise, and he isn’t afraid to throw his body into a shot.”

The 6-foot, 155-pound Bouma has worked hard to make a name for himself with his aggressive style and surgical puck play. The Icer defense this year lacks Bouma’s kind of skill and experience, and Battista said he feels this change was necessary to bring the new defense to life.

Bouma is dedicated to everything he does, and senior forward Chris Cervellero said because of Bouma’s dedication, he can be effective whereever he plays.

“I’m going to miss him at forward,” Cervellero said. “But he is a very versatile player, and I think he can make a great impact wherever he plays. He gives all he’s got to everything he does.”

On the other side, Matt Hoffman is the lone returning defenseman, and he welcomes the addition of Bouma to his line. Hoffman is currently paired with Bouma, and feels that it makes for the best of both worlds in the line. Hoffman is a large physical defenseman, and is comparable to a linebacker on skates. On the other hand, Bouma sees himself as more of the quarterback of the defense.

“A good defender can add something to the offense,” Bouma said. “It is similar to being a quarterback. I am back where I can see everything that is going on and I have a chance to assess the situation before I make a play.”

Battista said that Bouma has one of the best poke checks that he has seen, and is quick to point out that Bouma is not a stranger to defense. Bouma plays point on the power plays, and was known for his aggressive defense in high school.

Bouma has had an up and down career as an Icer, Battista said. He came out strong as a starting forward his freshman year, and scored 25 goals for the Icers that year. But he was plagued by shoulder problems during his sophomore and junior campaigns, and scored only 20 goals in the two seasons combined.

During the off season, Bouma had reconstructive shoulder surgery, and Battista feels that this has lifted a load of worry and pain off of the shoulders of Bouma.

“He is finally playing with confidence,” Battista said. “I think that this is what he’s needed to get where he wants to be this year, but he’s going to have to work for it.”

Bouma said that he welcomes the challenge, and feels he can help the newer defensemen get use to covering the space. He would also like to instill a keen sense of anticipation that is necessary to be an effective defenseman at the collegiate level.

“You need to be a step or two ahead of the offense,” Bouma said. “That takes time to learn.”

Battista said Bouma knows what it takes to break up a play, and because of this he is the best player to fill the void until some of the new defenders get their feet cold (from the ice).

Battista said he has enough confidence in Bouma’s skill and versatility adding that he can place him anywhere on the ice and count on him to be a power player.

Senior forward Chris Cervellero said the Icer seniors have set the team goal for their season: to go out like they came in — National Champs.

When this year’s seniors came into the Penn State hockey program, they were freshmen on a team that needed to utilize its skill and speed.

“We came onto a team that expected a lot from us,” said senior Dave Murphy at yesterday’s news conference at the ice pavilion. “We were anxious to step up to the challenge.”

Murphy feels his class was a big part of the reason that the team as a whole did so well that year. He said his class was eager to play, and there was a lot of competition between the freshmen and the starters.

“It was a lot of us versus them when we were freshmen,” Murphy said. “We were anxious to play, and made everyone work for their positions. I think it helped us gel as a class.”

Coach Joe Battista plans to use this unity of his junior and senior oriented team to its fullest potential in their first season in the newly formed ACHL. Because many of the players have so much experience to offer the team, Battista said he will not have to spend nearly as much time teaching them the basics, and can spend more time working on different looks for the team.

Battista said this is possible only if the team can maintain a positive work ethic throughout the season. And if they can do this, the Icers “can capitalize on their gifts” and use new and creative systems to keep their opponents off balance.

“We’re going to win a lot if these guys work hard,” Battista said. “It all comes down to their work ethics.”

Murphy agreed and quoted his coach. “Hard work beats talent, if talent doesn’t work hard,” he said.

Battista said he would like to use the speed and agility of his seniors in a, “run-and-gun offense.”

“We’re trying to open things up,” Battista said. “We want to take advantage of the speed that guys like Dave Murphy have. We’re going to let the offense do the work because they are the ones who make things happen.”

Battista said that he wants to place a strong emphasis on a high tempo offense, and later will push for the defense. This year’s Icer defense is young and relatively inexperienced, and once they catch their stride, Battista said he expects a lot from them. He then hopes to find a balance between the quick and skilled offense, and his physical defense.

Matt Hoffman is the lone experienced defender, and he plans to lead the defense to attack, and to keep them honest. He thinks that the new “run-and-gun offense” will give his defense a chance to build up its attack.

To add some experience to his defense, Battista moved three-year forward Ben Bouma to the backline. Bouma said he welcomes the change, and felt at home when he played defense in the Blue-White game.

“I’ve sort of been missing pieces of the puzzle the last couple of years,” Bouma said. “I played defense all through high school, and in the Blue-White game it all came back to me. The instinct just came back.”

Until the rest of the defense is up to par, Battista plans to spotlight his offense.

“Don’t be suprised if you look at our lineup and see four forwards, and one defender,” Battista said.

As a result of this strong offensive look, Icer Captin John Adams expects that his team will be scoring a lot of short-handed goals this season. Cervellero agreed, and said if they can score short-handed, imagine what they can do on a power play, when they are a man up.

On the other end of the stick, goaltender John Gray feels he has a lot to prove this season, and has set some high expectations of himself, and the team. He is close to breaking two records and is quick to point out that these are Icer wins, not Gray wins.

“The wins are team wins,” Gray said, “and if I have a win so do the Icers. Of course, the records are nice, but it is the team wins that are important.”

If the team maintains this positive attitude, and continues to work hard, Battista and his team feel they are capable of fulfilling their goal to become National Champions.

While the field hockey team split its games this weekend, junior Chris McGinley dribbled her way up three places to become the No. 5 all time scorer for the Lady Lions.

McGinley scored six of the Lady Lion’s eight goals in the Big Ten block at Iowa; two of them came in Penn State’s disheartening 3-2 double overtime loss to No. 2 ranked Iowa Friday.

“It was the best game Penn State has played this year,” Morett said. “Our kids really rose to the occasion.”

McGinley warned that the Lady Lions wanted to leap out to an early lead, and 17 minutes into the game she answered the call. McGinley drove her way through the Hawkeye defense, scoring unassisted on a shot across Iowa goalkeeper Andrea Wileand.

Ten minutes later, McGinley followed up her own goal to score on a corner penalty shot with an assist from the co-captain connection, Amy Stairs and Jen Stewart.

Iowa seemed taken aback by the Lady Lion intensity, as it took until late in the first half for them to adjust to it. With less than ten minutes left in the first half, the Hawkeyes regained their bearings, and scored on a penalty corner.

Iowa’s Kristy Gleason, who is the top scorer in the NCAA, scored on a penalty corner with an assist from Jamie Rofrano and Tiffany Bybel cutting Penn State’s lead to 2-1.

But Penn State still had the momentum and the lead going into the second half –they came out looking to finish off the Hawkeyes.

The Lady Lions held their ground until late into the second half when Kristen Filatt took a slapshot which was deflected by Chris Blais and blocked by Jill Pearsall’s body.

Filatt scored on the ensuing penalty shot past freshman goal keeper Shelly Meister forcing the first overtime — where McGinley came painstakingly close to ending it.

She bounced a penalty corner shot off the far post, and Iowa recovered the rebound. Two minutes into the second overtime Iowa’s Gleason scored on another penalty corner extending the Hawkeye home winning streak to 26 games.

“The Iowa game was tiring,” Morett said. “I talked with them and told them that I expected the level of play to be high now. I told them you know that you are capable of winning.”

McGinley took that advice to heart and still had some scoring left in her.

She carried her scoring streak into Saturday’s Michigan game. Four minutes into the contest, McGinley scored on a penalty shot with an assist from Stewart and Stairs. By this time McGinley had already moved up to No. 7 all-time scorer.

McGinley followed up on her own goal twice, the first came on a pass by Tara Maguire, which the Medord (N.J.) machine re-directed into the Wolverine goal. Late in the first half McGinley scored again on a penalty corner with an assist from Stewart and Stairs bringing her to No. 6 in the all-time scorers.

Early in the second half, Heather Atkinson interluded with a goal of her own, but McGinley could not let it go untouched, and she registered an assist in the goal.

Penn State with a 4-0 lead replaced goalkeeper Meister with sophomore goalkeeper Paulette Thompson.

Gia Biagi of Michigan scored on Thompson. Penn State answered through McGinley with her fourth goal of the game with an assist from Stairs.

McGinley then became the No. 5 all-time career goal scorer with 49 career goals. Ironically, the player whose holds the No. 4 position is Morett. Morett also holds the record for scoring the most goals in a single game. McGinley had a chance to tie that record with a penalty corner late in the game.

Morett knew that she held the record for the number of goals in a game, and with a comfortable lead decided to make light of the situation.

“I knew that I held the record for goals in a game at five,” Morett said. “So, for fun, I had signalled for someone else to take the shot. I changed the play to give Chris the shot, but she did not score.”

Danielle Annibale finished off the Lady Lion scoring with an assist from Jen Coletta.

In the Icer’s Blue-White game, Coach Joe Battista discovered some exciting new dimensions to his hockey team’s game, namely depth and size.

“I think that we’re going to have the kind of team that we have the potential to have a different group of guys come to the forefront each night,” Battista said. “I don’t think that we’re going to have to rely on any one individual. There are a lot of guys capable of scoring the goals.”

The Icers have 31 players this year, and many of them are returning veterans.

With all of this returning talent, Battista plans to use a platoon system this year to take advantage of the Icers’ depth.

“There will be games, where on a Friday night we will come at you with one line up,” Battista said. “Then the next night we will come back at you with five or six new fresh players. We’ll use our depth to our advantage, it is an advantage that a lot of other teams won’t have. It does make a difference, we saw that last year. And it keeps us honest too. If anybody gets complacive, there’s always someone anxious to take his place.”

Knowing that this is not a young team, Battista said that he plans to push the team hard this weekend.

“We only have four true freshmen,” he said. “By far we are not a young team, so my expectations for the team is going to be high. I plan to challenge them.”

The team is well aware of its plentiful talent, and a lot of what will happen to the Icers depends upon what they make of it.

“This team can take one of two routes” Battista said. “They can look around and say ‘hey we’ve got a lot of talent, we’re good,’ and just go through the motions, in which case this won’t be a good year.

“Or, they could look and say ‘hey, this is tremendous, this is an opportunity’, and if they remember this, and work they could make this a great season.”

Battista said that he feals that a lot depends on the team’s work ethic, character, and their commitment. He said that when those three intangibles are present a certain chemistry comes out, and this is something Battista wishes he could give directly to his team.

“I wish I could bottle it and give it to the team,” Battista said. “You never quite know how the team is going to mesh, and that is a big thing.”

The Icers have become known for their small, quick offensive teams, but this year they find themselves with four players who are 6-foot-3 or bigger, and even more who are at least 180-pounds. Battista says that he looks to see a more physical Icers team than previous years, but still hopes to hold the offensive quickness.

“I don’t want this to be a solely physical or a solely offensive team,” Battista said. “I would like to see a balance of the two.”

Battista was also pleased with the defensive effort, and he felt that all four goalies had a strong showing in the intrasquad scrimmage that resembled a regulation match.

“Our goal keeping was solid,” he said. “It is good to know that if somebody is having an off night, that we have two or three good men to back him up.”

Derek Lecours, who Battista felt had been struggling lately, performed well, and Battista attributed that to his hard work.

“He’s one of the hardest workers you’d ever want to see,” Battista said. “He had a great game tonight, and I think that will be a great boost to his confidence.”

Paul Graf, an assistant grad coach, was the coach of the white team and is the Icer’s goal coach.

“All four goalies looked great,” Graf said “Right now Johnny Gray is our number one goalie, and we’re still looking to find number two. All three had a good showing, and it makes the decision even harder, but it is good to know that we have that kind of choice.”

Assistant Coach Bill Masullo, was coaching the Blue team, and said that he felt that the Blue-White game shows more than would a regular controlled scrimage. He said that he saw a “lot of good stuff from the younger guys.” Masullo said that his team was stacked with some unexperienced players, and he had a better chance to look at them.

Battista said that everybody is fighting for positions, and said that the Blue-White game is important because this is the player’s chance to showcase themselves.

“When you look at evaluating players, it is a lot like looking at the stock market,” Battista said. “Some guy’s stock rises, some guy’s fall, but tommorrow is a new day. If a player had a good or bad game today, it doesn’t mean that the same will hold true tommorow. What you are looking for are the players or the stock that is the most consistent.”

Forward Kelly Heiser said the Lady Lions will play Iowa and Michigan this weekend with no sticks barred.

“We have our second chance (at Iowa),” Heiser said. “We will not leave anything undone this time.”

The Lady Lions played stride for stride with the brutal Hawkeyes on Oct. 4, and they had plenty of opportunities to score, but did not convert. They plan to play a similar game this time, except this time they plan to win.

“We’re not trying to do anything different,” Stewart said. “We out played them last time.”

But they didn’t win, losing 2-1 in a last minute heartbreaker. The Lady Lions did, however, make their entrance into the Big Ten known.

The Lady Lions are now part of the round-robin competition of the Big Ten, which gives them a second shot at the brutal Hawkeyes.

This time, No. 3 Penn State has to face the undefeated No. 2 Hawkeyes without the skill of junior defender Becca Main. Main dislocated her shoulder during practice this week, and will be out for two weeks. Main was a vital cog in the Lady Lion defense, and was the snuffer on penalty corners. The Hawkeyes scored the winning goal against Penn State on a penalty corner.

Main will be replaced by Sharon Kuntz, who was a starter last year.

In their Oct. 4 meeting, both teams dominated on offense and defense, but the match was a stalemate. Until the Hawkeye’s Kristy Gleason scored on a penalty corner with one minute left. Stewart said the Lady Lions failed to convert on some key opportunities. She says it will not happen again.

“We’ve got to take chances,” Stewart said. “We’ve got nothing to lose. They see us as the underdogs, and we plan to take full advantage of that vision, we’re going to beat them on their home turf.”

Since the loss to Iowa, the Lady Lions have played some lackluster field hockey beating Penn 1-0 and both Michigan schools by a 2-1 margin.

Iowa Coach Beth Beglin said she feels that Penn State was just looking past the smaller games to its rematch with Iowa.

“The Big Ten is such a powerful conference that if you try to look past a team you get tripped up,” Beglin said. “We’ve been guilty of the same things in the past few weeks. We just haven’t been playing well the past two weeks.”

One source of consistency for the Lady Lions has been Chris McGinley, who is currently the second highest scorer in the NCAA behind Iowa’s Gleason. McGinley is eighth on all-time scoring list at Penn State.

Heiser said that obviously, they cannot look past Iowa, but she feels the Lady Lions had an intense week of practice.

“If we play the game that we played last time,” Heiser said. “We will beat them. We’re just too intense to lose.”

Amy Stairs is a prime example that you can achieve what you want, if you are willing to work for it.

Through her hard work and genuine love for competition, Stairs has ascended from a non-scholarship walk-on to a vital player for the field hockey team.

Walk-ons are indeed a rare breed, and it takes a dedicated athlete to make the team. But Stairs not only made it, she is now a co-captain, and leads the Lady Lions with 11 assists.

Coach Char Morett said when Stairs enrolled at Penn State she had a strong desire to improve. Stairs didn’t start a single game in her freshman year and sophomore year, yet Morett offered her a scholarship.

“She has an amazing work ethic,” Morett said. “She didn’t start a single game, but I knew she would be good in time. That’s why she got the scholarship. Anybody that works that hard has to come out good.”

Chris McGinley, who is the leading scorer for the Lady Lions, said she remembers standing on the sidelines with Stairs.

“We called ourselves temporary help,” McGinley said. “But obviously that’s changed now.”

Stairs, who has started at five different positions this season, has earned the respect of her team and her opponents. As a senior co-captain, Stairs said that she leads by example putting everything she has into every practice and every game.

“She works hard every day,” Morret said. “Be it practice or be it game she is always giving it all she’s got.” “She is quiet, but her hard work is an encouragement to everybody,” Morret added.

Defender Becca Main said that Stairs is under-recognized because she is so quiet, and yet she’s the one everyone looks to for guidance.

“She never gets the credit she deserves,” Main said, “because she is so quiet. She is a leader by task not by words, and unfortunately people take the tasks for granted. Everybody expects her to be great. And she is great.”

Stairs’ strong work ethic has made her an ideal role model for the younger players to follow, especially the ones who sit on the bench.

Stairs has been working wherever her team needs her most this year.

“She has an excellent working knowledge of the game,” Morett said. “This helps her to excel no matter where the team needs her to be.”

Stairs sees herself as a team player, and said she will do whatever it takes to win.

“She is a well rounded person both on and off of the field,” Morett said. “She is wholeheartedly committed to the program.”

A big part of her commitment comes from her Penn State background.

Both her father and sister are Penn State alumni, and both played a large role in her attending Penn State.

She was raised in an athletic family, and participated in sports throughout her career at Hempfield High School. Both her mother and sister played field hockey, teaching her the basics of the sport. Stairs also lettered in track as a middle distance runner, triple jumper, and a middle distance runner.

No matter what the sport or position, Stairs puts her life into her work, and enjoys it. Her loyalty to her team, and her pride in Penn State bleeds through every time she steps onto the field.

“She is the most compassionate person I know,” Main said. “She always has everything planned out, and pushes that limit a step beyond. She is very goal oriented. She brings the best out of everyone, and everybody likes to see her succeed.”

If there ever were a phrase to capture the essence of senior co-captain Jen Stewart it would be, “Warning-I am subject to bursts of enthusiasm.”

“She is always the first person to pump us up,” said freshman starter Tara Maguire. “She has such a love for field hockey, that her enthusiasm inspires the rest of us to play harder.”

Coach Char Morett said Stewart puts everything she has into every game and every practice. “She is a natural leader, and is always trying to fire everyone up,” Morett added.

Stewart, however, has another side.

“She’s always keeping people light,” Morett said. “which is kind of ironic, because she takes everything she does so seriously. This seriousness has made her a talented athlete.”

Stewart vowed the Lady Lions will never underestimate an opponent again like they did Tuesday against UPenn. The Lady Lions travel to Michigan this weekend battle Michigan and Michigan State where the senior Stewart can showcase her talent.

Stewart’s skill and character are a major reason why she has started since her freshman year. Because of this, Stewart is sympathetic to the freshmen, and she knows what they are going through.

“I understand their position,” Stewart said. “I got homesick a lot and I was upset every time we traveled, but it still couldn’t overcome the great feeling I had knowing that I was starting for Penn State.”

When Stewart came to Penn State, she had a genuine desire to win, and a dedication to being the most competitive player she could possibly be, said Morett. She added that Stewart had excellent ball control, and her stickwork was great.

“Jenny’s stickwork is tops,” Morett said. “And she came from an excellent program in highschool.”

Stewart wasn’t always a field hockey player; she started out attending a Catholic school, and it offered soccer. She played actively through junior high school when she moved to a public school. The public school did not offer soccer as a fall sport, so she decided to play field hockey in the fall and soccer in the spring.

Her high school field hockey Coach Sheila Murphy said that Stewart was a very mature player, a perfectionist, even in high school. Murphy described Stewart as outgoing.

“The element that she displayed outright was her seriousness in wanting to excel,” Murphy said. “She sacrificed most of her summers to field hockey. She had most of the concepts from soccer, and picked up on the rest very quickly.”

In her three years of high school, Stewart played a different position each year. That explains her power to dominate every aspect of the game.

Stewart reaffirmed her threat as a scorer, tallying the only Lady Lion goal against UPenn. Her defensive skills have been an undisputed asset to the Lady Lions’ game.

But, Stewart’s greatest physical asset to the team is her ability to weave the ball between defenders.

“When I came here on my recruiting trip,” Maguire said. “I saw a video, and there was Jen, I watched her weave through four or five defenders. It was amazing.”

Becca Main roomed with Stewart their freshmen year, and said that Stewart was an inspiration then.

“I thought, ‘Wow! Somebody in my class starting’,” Main said. “It really gave me something to drive for.”

Main said she gets nervous if Stewart is quiet before a game, because it is always a comfort to hear the positive assurance in Stewart’s voice during pre-game.

“Nobody beats us on this turf,” is Stewart’s battle cry before every home game. This held true through Penn State’s recent 26-home game winning streak.

Stewart said it is always a rush to play at home, and she feels that they play a more intense game when the crowd supports them.

Co-captain Amy Stairs said she looks to Stewart on the field for the support and necessary communication.

“She has a grasp on everything that is going on around,” Stairs said. “She’ll pick you up if you do something bad, and congratulate you if you do something good, she’s always positive.”

If Stewart is an indicator of the Lady Lions’ prevailing attitude, Penn State is back on the prowl.

The No. 3 Lady Lion field hockey team meandered lethargically past the unranked University of Pennsylvania.

Penn State was calling for an emotional clash with the Quakers, who were riding on a six game winning streak, but the Lady Lions managed a slight thud at best in their 1-0 victory yesterday. They began as if they were out to boil some Quaker oats; however, moments into the game, the flame was turned to low.

Coach Char Morett said that they started the match big, but soon came down and played the remainder of the match without emotion.

“We were strong the first five minutes, but then we took them for granted,” said Morett. “I don’t know if it was because we were tired, but we just didn’t have any spark.”

Both teams creeped through the first half without feeling or scoring. At the end of the first half Morett pulled co-captain Jen Stewart out of the game. Morett felt that she just wasn’t producing the big plays that the Lady Lions needed.

“I took Jenny out of the game,” Morett said. “She did not start the second half. I told her that if she went in she had to make things happen.”

Make things happen she did, with only five minutes left in the game Stewart cranked a flaring slapshot from the 20 yard line, buzzing past Quaker goalkeeper Sue Pures.

“The ball really banged the boards,” Morett said.

Stewart, who is typically known as a support player with 10 assists, stepped up to show her leadership, and bring the only goal of the game.

The Quakers made a brief attempt at a come back; with only two minutes left, the Quakers took a solid shot at freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister, who has the highest save percentage in the Big Ten at .818%.

Penn State did not convert on any of their eight penalty corners, which are usually their strong point. Three of the penalty corners were bobbled, three were saved, and two did not make the shot.

The Lady Lions only had 13 shots on goal for the day, and only allowed five by the Quakers. Meister had three saves, and Pures had five, three of which came on penalty corners.

UPenn was the first of five consecutive away games for the Lady Lions.

In retrospect, the field hockey team feels that its loss to No. 2 Iowa had some positive repercussions.

“I’m glad it happened now,” said junior defender Becca Main. “It could have hurt us much more later in the season. Now we can learn to recover.”

This recovery process should not be a strenuous one; the quality of play doesn’t get any better than last Sunday’s battle with Iowa. Both teams played flawless field hockey.

“It takes a highly competitive game to show you what you need to improve,” Main said.

So, to heed Main’s words, they need to carry some of that flawless field hockey down to Philadelphia as the No. 3 Lady Lions hike to Quakerland for an intrastate shindig with Pennsylvania.

Revenge may also be a motive for the Lady Lions because the Quakers knocked them out of the final four two years ago.

“I feel bad for them,” Main said. “We’re going to be going out there with a lot of aggression and frustration from Iowa. Two years ago they (UPenn) eliminated us from the final four, and there’s still some revenge lingering there.”

This revenge may spark the aggression that the Lady Lions unleashed on the Big Ten last weekend. In previous games, they were content to just sit back and see what the other teams had, and then try to adjust to it, Main said.

“I think we’ve realized that we are as competitive as anybody else,” said forward Danielle Annibale. “And from the first whistle we have to get to every ball. We are finally clicking as a team.”

The team has had problems passing between defenders and midfielders and between the midfielders and forwards. They have also grown into a habit of passing before they look for openings.

Annibale said that the team hopes to resolve these glitches before they square off with Iowa again next week. Beating Iowa would prove very little, however, if the Lady Lions do not make oatmeal of the Quakers.

“We cannot look past UPenn,” Annibale said. “That will be a big game for us; if we do, they will burn us.”

Every game has become a big game for the Lady Lions, they are ranked No. 3 in the nation and have become everybody’s team to beat.

“We are living up to our rank,” said Amy Stairs. “And we are trying to show everyone just who Penn State is, and what we are capable of.”

Once Penn State gains game experience and technique, it has the potential to win the conference and quite possibly the NCAAs.

But before they can take the conference and even think about returning to the final four, they must go one week at a time getting up for each game. UPenn is first on that agenda, and Main feels the Lady Lions are back on the prowl.

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.”