Jim Woods

A combination of working a new system and the better than expected play of Temple’s Lady Owls made for a slow start on the part of the Lady Lions in their 4-2 victory last night.

“It was a classic Penn State-Temple game,” said Coach Char Morett. “It is always an aggressive game, but they came out better than we expected.”

Penn State was working with a 2-4 system hoping to open up the sidelines. Temple completely shut off those sidelines with a powerful defense and was forced to try to pass up the middle.

Temple weaved the ball through the usually stingy defense because the Lady Lions defense was flat on their paws almost the entire first half. They allowed two first-half Temple goals.

Temple’s Crystal Carr started the Lady Owl’s scoring about 11 minutes into the game, when she deflected a loose ball past Penn State goalkeeper Shelly Meister.

“I was looking for the shot,” Meister said, “and the tip supprised me, there wasn’t much I could do.”

Chris McGinley answered with a Lady Lion goal with an assist from co-captains Jen Stewart and Amy Stairs. McGinley was ranked among the top scorers in the nation and she had a hat trick in last night’s game.

Temple was quick to respond 50 seconds later when Tony Byard bounced a penalty corner shot off of the ankle of Jill Pearsall. Byard then took the ensuing penalty shot, which blew by Meister.

Penn State came out for the second half with more liveliness to their game. The Penn State defense held up to its reputation, and held the Temple offense silent for the second half. The offense punched it up a gear, and scored three second-half goals.

Jill Pearsall started the second half scoring about two minutes into the half when she slammed a penalty shot past Temple goalkeeper Lori Benner, which tied the game at 2-2.

McGinley scored the game winning goal, with assists from Stairs and Stewart once again on a penalty corner.

“She (McGinley) is a scorer,” Morett said. “Our goal was to put it into the circle hard, and that was what we did.”

Five minutes later McGinley capped the scoring with her hat trick goal, which came on a slapshot from on the right into the left corner of the goal.

It was a poor shooting match for both offenses.

“We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” said Stairs. “We need to capitalize.”

Penn State’s offense seemed to almost underestimate the No. 10 Lady Owls.

“They came to beat us,” said McGinley. “It is always a tough match, and we can’t take them lightly like we did in the first half.”

Penn State had only 15 shots on goal as to Temple’s 18. Temple made their shots count, Meister had 12 saves on the day, and Temple’s Benner had 9.

“I think this game helped us to prepare for the big weekend” said Stairs.

Penn State will play its first Big Ten game this Friday at Penn State.

When Becca Main joined the field hockey team, she came on as a non-scholarship walk on who had plenty of potential, but little experience.

Since that time Main has earned her way to being one of the top defenders in the nation. She attributes her success to her teammates and her Coach Char Morett for having faith in her.

“I played field hockey through high school, and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t have the coaching that I needed,” Main said. “I played, but I wasn’t a player. Coach Morett’s coaching skills and her influence made me a player.”

This season Main has become more than a player, she has become a leader.

Last week in the Lady Lion’s scoreless tie with Maryland, Main played one of her strongest defensive games ever. Although Penn State’s offense was silent, the defense was immaculate. Her stick play was topps and her defense was impassable.

“I’m always communicating with the other defenders wile we’re on the field,” Main said. “They understand that I’m not being pushy, and I’m just trying to let everybody know what is going on, so we can do our jobs. That is very important to me, I am a very competitive player.”

Main will exemplify her competitiveness along with her No. 3 ranked teammates as they take on former Atlantic Ten foe Temple at 4 today on the turf next to Holuba Hall.

“Temple has always been a big game for us,” Main said. “They always push us to be our best.”

Main has always put her best foot forward. Before she had any of the training necessary to make her the defender she is today, she still managed to do well with what she had.

“She has a lot of heart,” said teammate Meredith Mandracchia. “And she is one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen!”

Even in high school her talent was apparent.

In high school, Main was selected as Pennsbury High School’s best female athlete. She held her school’s record for the 200 meter dash in 26.4 seconds. She was a key defender on her high school’s field hockey team. And she was also chosen for the All-Suburban I choice.

Upon her graduation she was torn as to choose which school she would lend her talent and which sport it would be in. She had offers from numerous schools for either track or field hockey and she paid visits to many of them trying to decide which school to attend.

During Main’s senior year, Pennsbury High decided that their field hockey coach was not bringing out the potential in the team, and hired a new coach, who happened to be a personal friend of Morett. Main’s new coach recommended Main to Morett.

Morett then invited Main to Penn State to check out the campus and the sports programs. She liked the campus and decided that Penn State was the school for her. However, she still had to choose between track and field hockey.

Three years later, it seems that Main made the wise decision of sticking with field hockey despite her deficencies in the sport. She said that she has an affection for team sports, and that affection was one of the major influences in her decision to play field hockey.

“I love being part of a team,” Main said. “It is much more gratifying to me to be a part (of it).”

As a freshman, Main walked on and opted to redshirt that year taking into account her five year major and lack of collegiate experience.

“I was overwhelmed by the big university,” Main said. “I knew that I would be here an extra year anyway because my major was excercise science. It was a very concious decision on my part, and I feel that it was to my benefit.”

Main also possesses a unique sense of humor and she tries to find the lighter side of every situation. Unfortunately for a player that redshirts, there are not many lighter sides. Main, though, made the most of it.

“I was the person who carried the equipment, didn’t have a uniform, and had to practice every day knowing that I wouldn’t get into the game,” she said. “But I feel that I gained the skill that I needed.”

Morett said that she admires Main’s dedication to the team, not just as a player, but as a supporter.

“Even when she wasn’t playing, she would be the first person off of the bench to congratulate somebody,” Morett said.

Main’s friend Mandracchia agreed that Main is a role model both on and off of the field.

“She is always cheery, and supportive of everyone, especially me, and she is always happy to see somebody else succeed,” Mandracchia said.

Mandracchia and Main joke about the lack of recognition that defenders get, and rather than complain, Main has been known to call certain under-recognized players and perform a mock media interview, and bring light to it at practice that night.

“It’s hard to be on a team with all that talent, but Becca makes the difference to what could’ve been a difficult time.” Mandracchia said.

“I know how left out I felt when I didn’t play, and so I try to ease that tension by adding humor to the situation,” Main said.

Morett sees Main trying to ease the tension whenever Morett’s riding another player, but when the criticism falls toward Main, Main tends to take it personally.

“I know she can do better,” Morett said, “I am just pushing her to be the best that she can be. I do believe that she is an excellent player, and I want her to realize what she is capable of doing.”

Main has harnessed some of this talent, and has become a key defender for the Lady Lions.

“I go out every game telling myself that I am going to keep everyone in front of me,” Main said. “No one is going to get by me, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure of it.”

Main said that she feels that the Lady Lions’ new style spotlights her style of play.

“The 3-3-3-1-1 spreads the field out width wise, and it allows me to use my speed to my benefit,” Main said. “I really hope to crush them (Temple).”

While in Venezuela playing for the United States Junior team, Kirt Benedict served both her team and her classwork in a way that she never expected.

Benedict served as the team translator in Venezuela. She said that she is less than fluent, but she knew enough to get by. She helped the players to check into the hotel, get rides, and generally any other excuse to practice her Spanish.

Both Jill Pearsall and Benedict had their notes faxed to them daily to keep up with their classes during their three week competition. Benedict said that she had a friend take notes for her also, but she feels that she still has a lot of catching up to do.

“I am the type of person who needs to be in class,” Benedict said, “I kept up on the work side, but I’ll have to see what effect the absences had.”

“We didn’t have much time for a social life,” said Benedict, “let alone the school work.”

The team ranked fifth overall. Only the top three teams qualified to go to Spain. To eliminate ties in records, they based the ranks on points scored. To rank in the top three, the U.S. team would have to beat Canada by 2.

Both Pearsall and Benedict made reference to the Canada game as their most memorable experience.

“There was two minutes left and the game was scoreless,” said Benedict, “We needed the two points to win, then we scored. It all seemed in reach, we didn’t get the two points we needed, but we did win, and it was a great game.”

Pearsall agreed, “Both teams played similar styles, it made for an exciting game.”

Benedict said that she attributed the team’s low ranking and low score to inconsistent play. She said that her biggest difficulty was the constant adjustment in style. She feels that this constant adjustment will improve both her and Pearsall’s game.

“Playing at that level, among the best of the best,” Benedict said, “was a good experience, but now I am glad to be back and I’m psyched to play for Penn State again.”

Now both Pearsall and Benedict are back to Penn State and ready to hit the ground rolling. Both players started last season, but will find themselves in some stiff competition for their positions.

“I’m going to treat it as if they were injured starters,” Coach Char Morett said, “they will have to work their way back in.”

In Venezuela, Pearsall said that playing among all the top players, has helped her to become more of a team player. She said that she will help Penn State in any way possible.

“It doesn’t matter if I start or not,” said Pearsall, “I will do what ever the team needs me to.”

Benedict and Pearsall will only have one practice before Penn State’s game tonight against No. 4 Maryland. Penn State was ranked No. 5 in pre-season poll, and has steadily moved up the NCAA poll. Penn State is currently ranked at No. 3.

“The team developed a high level of intensity this weekend,” said Morett, “I would like to see that carry over into Wednesdays game, the return of Kirt and Jill can only add to it.”

This weekend the field hockey team established a comfortable cushion between itself and the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in the Mideast region.

Saturday afternoon the Lady Lions, who are ranked No. 1 regionally, defeated their host, the No. 3 ranked University of Connecticut, by a score of 3-1.

Chris McGinley with an assist from Jen Stewart started the Lady Lion scoring with a penalty corner about 22 minutes into the first half. Only 24 seconds later, Danielle Annibale scored on a pass from Marcy Kolongowski to make the score 2-0. Heather Atkinson capped off the Lady Lion scoring toward the end of the first half.

The only second half scoring was done by UConn’s Sarah Rahn, when she alluded freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister about 10 minutes into the second half. The Lady Lions outshot the Huskies 20-6. Meister had five saves on the day.

Coach Char Morett said that she was quite pleased with their play thus far within the region. She said she feels that the Lady Lions made an excellent transition from playing on turf to playing on Uconn’s grass.

“I am really pleased,” said Morett, “Each game we’ve improved.”

Yesterday afternoon, when they travelled to Lafayette, the Lady Lions stepped up early to establish their superiority over the No. 2 ranked Leopards.

The Lady Lions, in their 4-0 shutout of the Leopards, more than justified their top ranking in the Mideast region. They came out big and stayed big throughout the game.

Two minutes into the first half, McGinley, with an assist from Stewart, scored on a penalty corner, which was her second goal of the weekend. Kolongowski, who also established herself as a power-player for the Lions, followed up with an unassisted goal. Kolongowski redirected a rebound from the Lafayette goalkeeper’s leg guard and scored to make the score 2-0 in favor of the still undefeated Lady lions.

Kolongowski started off the Lady Lion scoring for the second half. Fifteen minutes into the second half, senior co-captian Amy Stairs made a pass across the mouth of the goal, which Kolongowski then slapped for the third Lion goal.

Kolongowski had to miss the first game of the season due to a back injury. Since that time she has returned and established herself as an agressive player. Today she scored her first career goal, and also added another goal and an assist to her credit this weekend.

“She’s comming on strong,” said Morett, “especially since her bad back.”

The Lady Lions received a team warning in the first half for having a player within five yards of a free shot. During the second half, in a similar incident, Chris Blais was ejected. The loss of a player did not phase the Lady Lions.

McGinley scored the last Lion goal five minutes later, when she chipped a shot over the Leopard goalkeeper’s head. The Lady Lions out shot the Leopards 20-6.

“It’s really difficult playing on grass,” said Morett, “but they hustled like crazy. Plus we we were a player down the second half.”

Morett is more than elated with the Lady Lion’s performance to date. They have moved up one from No. 5 to No. 4 in the NCAA poll, and if they are consistent in their performance, they are likely to continue to climb the NCAA poll.

“This year’s team is the first team since I’ve been here that got the job done beyond my expectations,” closed Morett.

This weekend the field hockey team established a comfortable cushion between itself and the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in the Mideast region.

Saturday afternoon the Lady Lions, who are ranked No. 1 regionally, defeated their host, the No. 3 ranked University of Connecticut, by a score of 3-1.

Chris McGinley with an assist from Jen Stewart started the Lady Lion scoring with a penalty corner about 22 minutes into the first half. Only 24 seconds later, Danielle Annibale scored on a pass from Marcy Kolongowski to make the score 2-0. Heather Atkinson capped off the Lady Lion scoring toward the end of the first half.

The only second half scoring was done by UConn’s Sarah Rahn, when she alluded freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister about 10 minutes into the second half. The Lady Lions outshot the Huskies 20-6. Meister had five saves on the day.

Coach Char Morett said that she was quite pleased with their play thus far within the region. She said she feels that the Lady Lions made an excellent transition from playing on turf to playing on Uconn’s grass.

“I am really pleased,” said Morett, “Each game we’ve improved.”

Yesterday afternoon, when they travelled to Lafayette, the Lady Lions stepped up early to establish their superiority over the No. 2 ranked Leopards.

The Lady Lions, in their 4-0 shutout of the Leopards, more than justified their top ranking in the Mideast region. They came out big and stayed big throughout the game.

Two minutes into the first half, McGinley, with an assist from Stewart, scored on a penalty corner, which was her second goal of the weekend. Kolongowski, who also established herself as a power-player for the Lions, followed up with an unassisted goal. Kolongowski redirected a rebound from the Lafayette goalkeeper’s leg guard and scored to make the score 2-0 in favor of the still undefeated Lady lions.

Kolongowski started off the Lady Lion scoring for the second half. Fifteen minutes into the second half, senior co-captian Amy Stairs made a pass across the mouth of the goal, which Kolongowski then slapped for the third Lion goal.

Kolongowski had to miss the first game of the season due to a back injury. Since that time she has returned and established herself as an agressive player. Today she scored her first career goal, and also added another goal and an assist to her credit this weekend.

“She’s comming on strong,” said Morett, “especially since her bad back.”

The Lady Lions received a team warning in the first half for having a player within five yards of a free shot. During the second half, in a similar incident, Chris Blais was ejected. The loss of a player did not phase the Lady Lions.

McGinley scored the last Lion goal five minutes later, when she chipped a shot over the Leopard goalkeeper’s head. The Lady Lions out shot the Leopards 20-6.

“It’s really difficult playing on grass,” said Morett, “but they hustled like crazy. Plus we we were a player down the second half.”

Morett is more than elated with the Lady Lion’s performance to date. They have moved up one from No. 5 to No. 4 in the NCAA poll, and if they are consistent in their performance, they are likely to continue to climb the NCAA poll.

“This year’s team is the first team since I’ve been here that got the job done beyond my expectations,” closed Morett.

Beyond dealing with the challenge of facing the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked teams in its region, the field hockey team will have to make the transition from playing on turf to playing on grass.

No. 4 Penn State is currently ranked No. 1 in the region. The Lady Lions will play at No. 3 Connecticut tomorrow and at No. 2 Lafayette on Sunday.

“These are important games for us this weekend,” said Coach Char Morett, “the highest ranked team in each region gets an automatic bid.”

Most NCAA teams now play their games on turf. The turf causes many more stops in play when the ball rolls out of bounds. On the grass the ball stops short of going out of bounds and takes many odd bounces, which makes play faster paced and a lot more unpredictable.

“Because both games will be played away and on grass, it will make for a couple of very unpredictable matches,” said Assistant Coach Kristen Winters.

The games promise to be aggressive this weekend. Beyond the battle among the ranks, the inter-regional rivalries will add to the heat of the games.

“Both teams always come at us hard,” Winters added. “These games have always been big regional rivalries. It just means that we have to concentrate more, I know that we’re up to the challenge. We’ve practiced on grass all week, and I feel that we’re better prepared than we have been in the past.”

The Lady Lions don’t feel that the transition to playing on grass will affect their playing style. In some ways they feel that they can draw on some advantages that playing on turf wouldn’t normally provide.

“We’ve all played in grass before, and we know that there are some tough bounces, but there are advantages too,” said sophomore forward Chris Blais.

“I feel that I play better on grass,” added midfielder Jenn Coletta, “I have a longer reach, and the grass allows me to out run most of my opponents.”

Coach Morett said that the team will stick with its new system, and believes that the Lady Lions can be just as effective on the grass.

“I think the team looks really good on grass, and I think that we have a style that fits grass well,” Coletta added.

Freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister said there is added pressure on the goalkeepers on grass surfaces. The ball spends a lot more time in the playing area. Goalkeepers must also adjust their typical style play to account for bad bounces.

“The only real difference is that I’ve gotta watch for bad bounces,” said Meister. “It is a hit and run match, the ball stops a lot more, and allows for more shots on goal, I have to keep my whole body in front of the ball. It makes for a tough game on the goals, but I think we have a good defense that will help to cut down on that.”

There are only seven returning starters for the Lady Lions, and many of the younger players are anxious to fill the open positions. Freshman Tara Maguire had a hat trick last week, and many other freshmen starters have played a major role thus far.

“We have a lot of young players that will do whatever it takes to win,” Winters said, “and I think that if they play to their potential they won’t be stopped.”

It was a long day under Lady Lion field hockey fire for Rutgers goalkeeper Jodi Deem during Penn State’s 2-0 victory over the Lady Knights yesterday.

Penn State did an excellent job of keeping the ball in Rutgers territory, but failed to capitalize on many scoring opportunities. The Lady Lions fired off 19 first half shots on goal, but only scored on one of them.

“Our team ‘D’ was excellent,” said defensive back Becca Main. “I feel that the defensive backs played the best yet.

“I would like to have seen us score more. It seems as if we are afraid to take chances, which holds us back. I think that if we took some chances, our game would be a lot better.”

“Our forwards are young,” said Coach Char Morett, “But it will come with experience. They had a good goalie, who used some different techniques, and we missed some key opportunities, but overall I was pleased.”

Rutgers’ Deem felt the Lady Knights could have beaten Penn State.

“It was a very defensive game for us, but their shots were not as strong as I thought they would be,” she said. “This is the first year that I think we could have beat Penn State, if only our offense would have gotten into the game.”

“This is the first time I feel that we’ve kept with Penn State,” agreed Rutgers coach Ann Petracco. “We played a good defensive game, and fell apart on the attack. If we could have moved our attack, it would have been a different ball game.”

The Lady Lions came out playing a physical but conservative game. The scoring didn’t start for the Lions until late in the first half, when Amy Stairs scored on a penalty corner with an assist from Chris McGinley.

The Lions failed to score on the previous eight penalty corners, and had four additional penalty corners in the second half.

“Their goalkeeper used a lay down technique to cover the goal on penalty corners, that makes it tough to score on,” Lady Lion Jen Coletta said.

“Our attack was not aggressive today,” Stairs said, “We didn’t capitalize on many key opportunities.”

Rutgers came out playing a more aggressive second half. The Lady Knights held the Lady Lions to only seven second half shots on goal, and one additional goal. The ball even made a few brief appearances in Penn State territory.

Coletta scored the only second half goal. Jen Stewart and Tara Maguire, who had a hat trick last game, were credited with the assist.

Rutgers had a total of four shots on goal in the game, and freshman goalkeeper Shelly Meister had three saves in her first collegiate start. Penn State had a total of 26 shots on goal, and Rutgers goalkeeper Deem had 17 saves for the day.

“We have to work on our transitions between lines,” said Morett. “We play on grass next week and I feel that that will be to our benefit.”

The Lady Lions will play at No. 10 Connecticut on Saturday.

“We haven’t peaked yet,” said Main. “The best is yet to come.”

In an attempt to deal with last-minute rule changes and a young, inexperienced lineup, the field hockey team is trying to find the field system that best fits its style.

The Lady Lions used one of the new systems in their 4-1 victory over Syracuse Tuesday. This system consisted of three forwards, three midfielders, three fullbacks, one sweeper, and one goalie.

“It worked out well,” said Coach Char Morett, “I was pleased, but we still need work between midfield and attack, and midfield and defense, but that will come with practice.”

No. 5 Penn State (1-0) will test its new system once again Sunday, during its home opener against Rutgers (1-0 before last night’s game). The game will be played at noon on the turf field at Holuba Hall.

A major source of Penn State’s power this season will be its returning midfield. All three of the midfielders — Jen Stewart, Amy Stairs and Chris McGinley — were in the starting lineup last year.

“I hope to step up and score a lot more this season,” said Stewart, a co-captain. “With the elimination of the obstruction rule, I think that we will have a definite advantage over other teams who might not adapt as well as we have. We have been working with a spin move, and now we need to begin to work with each other.”

“It is just a matter of getting used to working with each other again,” said Stewart, “We already know each other’s basic tendencies, in a little time we’ll be back in the swing of things.”

Freshman forward Tara Maguire, who scored three of Penn State’s four goals Tuesday, says that she is quite comfortable with the new systems.

“I’m not a stranger to our new system,” Maguire said, “I played all summer and worked out with a few different systems.”

“I was both excited and nervous comming into the game, but I try not to think much during the game because if I take time to think it takes away from my level of play,” Maguire said, “I got a little worried when they called back my second goal. They said that I pushed off of a defender before I shot my goal. I thought, oh no, this is my first college game and I already got a green card.”

Maguire recovered quite well, she came back to score two second-half goals.

McGinley, who scored the first Lady Lion goal of the season about 15 minutes into the first period, said she feels that the whole team is capable of scoring, not just a few individuals.

“We are not a team of big names as we have been in the past,” Stewart added. “We are a young scrappy team with a lot of heart. I have big hopes for this year. We all come out and work really hard.”

“Everybody thought that this would be a year of re-building, I see this as a year for succeeding,” Stairs, the other co-captain, said. “I have set goals for my self as I imagine everybody else has, and if everybody plays their game, I think we have the potential to go all the way.”

The Lady Lions are also adjusting to some NCAA rule changes.

Normally when a defender would obstruct the path of a ball carrier, play would stop. This rule, however, has been eliminated. Stewart said she believes the result will be a quicker-paced game.

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.