Jim Woods

With the loss of first team All-American goalkeeper Michele Brennan, the Lady Lion field hockey team find itself with a big goal to fill.

The run for the position is between 5-foot-11 freshman Shelly Meister, and 5-foot-3 sophomore Paulette Thompson, who had about 10 minutes of playing time last season.

“Both are extremely close to the position,” said Coach Char Morett. “Paulette has more experience against college level field hockey,” said Morett, “but Shelly has the height and aggression.”

“Michele is helping both to learn the fundamentals,” Morett said, “both are coming along wonderfully. Shelly is working on covering the cage with a full split, and Paulette covers the angles.”

Brennan, who holds the school record for the number of shutouts, has returned this season to help coach her successors.

“I put in four hard years,” Brennan said, “it is nice to be on the other side.”

Brennan, who had to return this semester to take additional credits, opted to volunteer as goal coach to help ease the transition, and to help fill the loss of former assistant Megan Donelly.

“I am used to coaching younger athletes,” Brennan said, “it is a refreshing change coaching these two. They’re both extremely talented, and catch on to anything I show them, and they do it well.”

“It is nice to be able to offer my experience,” Brennan said, ”I’d like to see them do well.”

Brennan was playing for the U.S. Field Hockey team, but was sidelined by a broken leg. She made a brief attempt to return, but felt that she did so prematurely. She has plans of returning when the U.S. team reconvenes in December. Until then, she is enjoying coaching the two goaltender contenders.

She said that she feels that both show great potential in different styles. She also said that they are improving vastly as they are gaining some much needed experience.

“This is a terrific opportunity to be taught by Michele,” Meister said. “She has been my idol since I was a freshman in high school. I saw her play when I went to see Penn State in a final four game, and since then I have looked up to her style of play,” she said. “Her coaching has made the transition to college field hockey a lot easier, but the whole team has made that easy. We’re all like family,” said Meister.

“Paulette and I are good friends even though we’re competing for the same position,” said Meister, “We encourage and push each other hard, and I think that will help us to be ready sooner. We tend to sympathize with each other because we’re both in the same dilemma.”

Thompson, who had 10 minutes of playing time last semester, feels that her game has greatly improved. She played spring ball and gained a lot of experience.

“I enjoyed working with Michele,” Thompson said, “It is better working with her now that she is coaching and helping me to mold into her style. I feel that I am a lot better this year, and having a coach like Michele helps alot.

“Even though Shelly and I are out for the position we still get along great and work well together. I think it will be a good season.”

“Char and I thought that this year would be a rebuilding year with seven freshmen, but everyone came out strong and I look for them to do excellent this season,” Brennan said

Neither Thompson nor Meister will know who will be starting until closer to the Lady Lions season opener at Syracuse on Sept. 8.

“Right now they’re neck and neck,” said Morett, “Who knows, maybe they’ll split the time.”

Penn State’s men’s lacrosse team slopped their way through a 13-10 victory yesterday over Bucknell.

It’s games like these that the Lions should be thankful for having as good a goalie as J.J. Pearl. Pearl had 19 saves on the night and was faced with 41 shots on goal by the Bison.

“We played really sloppy tonight,” said Coach Glenn Thiel, “We were lucky to win.

“We have to learn to play smart if we want to continue to win,” Thiel added. “This kind of play cannot go on.”

The Bison controlled the ball most of the game, Thiel said. With the slight exception of a third-quarter energy burst from the otherwise dead Lions, Bucknell circled the Lion goal at will.

The Lions, who typically excel in the first quarter, were held scoreless by the Bison until late in the second quarter. The Bison on the other hand scored three times and rolled over the Lions for most of the first half.

The Lions did manage to squeeze out 5 goals before the end of the first half. The Bison also had a rally of their own, scoring four goals to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

When the second half started, it looked like a new game for the Lions, Thiel said. He said that the Lions were handling the ball well and pulled out to a 10-9 lead.

“We showed a lot of character to be able to come back out for the second half and be able to come from behind,” said Chris Lehman, who was the Lion’s leading scorer with four goals on the night.

Unfortunately, come from behind was all the Lions did on the night. After taking the lead, the Lions shut back down and barely managed to maintain the lead, Thiel said.

The Lions only scored three goals in the final quarter. With gratitude to goalie Pearl, the Lions held the Bison to a single goal.

Most of the Lions goals came on the power play.

The field was wet and slippery, but that was no excuse for the soft and tentative style of defense played by the Lions tonight, Thiel said. He also said that the offense turned the ball over too many times.

“We gave Bucknell too many opportunities,” he said,”We played bad defense. We were lucky that they were unable to convert.”

One plus for the Lions was Pete Makover’s switch from midfield to attack. He scored one goal and had three assists.

“It worked out really well,” Thiel said. ” I think it worked out well for both Pete and the team.”

The Lions travel to C.W. Post for a match on Saturday.

After winning seven straight games, Penn State men’s lacrosse team has dropped its last two.

The Lions hope to end this new streak on the road when they play unranked Bucknell at 7 tonight.

The Lions have dropped from No. 8 to No. 15 in the Division I lacrosse poll, and have put themselves in a must win situation for the rest of the season. Every game has become a big game for the Lions if they hope to be the first Penn State men’s lacrosse team to make an appearence in the Northeast Regional Tournament.

“We’re fired up and need a win to keep the dreams alive,” said attack Pete Makover. “We’re (Bucknell’s) biggest game, and now we’ve got to make them ours.”

Penn State has won the last two times these teams have met. Two years ago when Penn State played at Bucknell, the Lions slid by with a 9-8 win.

“The last time we played there, (Bucknell) played a realy scrappy game and gave us fits,” said Coach Glenn Thiel. “We’ve got to play our game, and do it well.”

Bucknell’s field is poorly lit and in bad condition, said Thiel. The Lions are a fast-paced team, and poor conditions hinder their style, but Thiel is confident that the Lions can play their game and play it well. To do that Thiel said that they have to take control early and maintain it throughout the game.

“We want to show our dominance early,” said attack Jamie Morse. “The longer they think they’re in the game, the better chance they have of making it a close one, and we don’t want that — we’re going to have to shut them down early.”

Thiel said that Bucknell has a large physical defense and a good attack, but feels his team has yet to be outmatched, and doesn’t feel Bucknell will be any different. Morse agreed.

“We practice against a physical defense every day, and we will prove that we have a stronger attack (than Bucknell),” he said.

The Lions made one major move — Pete Makover was moved from midfield to attack.

“It was a good move for me,” said Makover, “I have been having back troubles. I am comfortable there, and am confident that I my performance will improve.”

Thiel said that Makover’s move will greatly help the team, and that Mike Busza will be ready to back up Makover, and hopefully give the Lions the strong finish that they have been missing for the last couple of games.

Pull out the hip boots, it’s knee-deep mud lacrosse. Hobart, with an assist credited to Mother Nature, beat the men’s lacrosse team 11-8 Saturday in soggy Geneva, N.Y.

It had rained for almost three consecutive days in Geneva prior to the match, and it continued to pour throughout Saturday.

At first it looked as if the Lions were going to make a game of it. But then the Statesmen scored the first goal, and from that point on the Lions seemed to be just a stick in the mud.

For the rest of the game the Lions had to play catch-up, a style that Penn State is not well-suited for. The Lions brought the game to within a goal several times, but just couldn’t gain the edge they needed to win, attacker Kevin McGinley said.

“A catchup game is not the type of game that we wanted to be playing against Hobart, especially in the rain,” attacker Jamie Morse said. “The weather just better suited Hobart’s type of play.”

It wasn’t a lack of opportunity that troubled the Lions. They had 47 shots on goal for the game, but just weren’t hitting the mark.

By the end of the first quarter the Statesmen led the Lions, 3-2.

The weather made it a very slow, low-scoring game. The ball spent a lot of time in the mud. At the end of the first half the score was 5-3 in favor of Hobart.

Both teams came out for the second half with new life. The Lions, who seemed to have found their second wind, picked up the pace of the game. Both teams scored two third-quarter goals and the game went into the fourth with Hobart leading 7-5.

Almost two minutes into the fourth quarter Penn State scored again, and seemed to have the momentum that might carry them over the top.

A penalty brought Penn State’s momentum to a hault and Hobart capitalized with a power-play goal. Another Penn State penalty led to another power-play goal for Hobart.

Those two goals were the nail in the coffin for Penn State. The Statesmen marched on to score two additional goals.

“We just couldn’t hit the goals we need,” McGinley said. “We’re generally a physical team and the rain seriously cramped our style.”

McGinley led the Lions with 4 goals and Morse had three assists. Scoring the other goals for Penn State were Mike Busza, Chris Lehman, Greg Guarton and Ben Hood.

Penn State’s loss to Hobart has put the team in a must-win situation for the remainder of the season if it is to follow its dreams of being the first Penn State team to appear in the Northest Regional Tournament. The Lions will travel to Bucknell Wednesday.

Talk about being under fire while you’re on the job. Over 75 shots on goal were fired in the direction of Penn State goalie J.J. Pearl during the men’s lacrosse team’s 16-8 thrashing by Towson State.

The Lions had their typical shotgun start. At first it seemed as if it were going to be a close match, with the Lions scoring two quick goals. Then Towson started scored and the Lions lost their momentum.

The ball spent most of the final three quarters circling the Penn State goal. Pearl was under constant fire, and was receiving little help from his defense, who seemed noticeably tired. Suprisingly enough, only 16 of these shots found their way past Pearl.

“We played not to lose,” Pearl said, “we didn’t play to win, and that’s why they beat us.”

Coach Glenn Thiel said that his team just had a bad day. Pearl himself said that he was feeling flat going into the game.

“When your goalie has an off day, then basically so does the rest of the team,” Thiel said.

Pearl said that he had a personal vendetta against Towson State. He chose Penn State over Towson out of high school. He said that both schools were pulling him pretty hard, but he met Thiel at a lacrosse camp, and basically thought that Penn State was closer to the type of shcool that he wanted to attend.

Until this year Pearl fought daily for his job as starting goalie with Jamie Morse, who is now an attackman. Pearl said that his new job security has improved his performance.

“I can concentrate a lot better now, and it allows me to do some new things that I couldn’t do before,” Pearl said.

Pearl said that now he has become confident with his starting position, and he is playing up to the level that he feels that he was at before.

Pearl has been playing in goal since he first took an interest in lacrosse in his fourth grade gym class.

“Basically nobody else wanted to stand there and take the heat, and I was willing,” he said. “I didn’t have the speed some of the others had, but what I lacked in speed, I made up for in cordination.”

He said that he has a true love for the sport, and plans to continue his play in a box league or something of the sort after graduation.

“It’s the only true American sport,” he said. “There’s a lot of deep tradition involved, and I like being a part of that.”

Pearl has set a goal for he and his team to make it to the NCAA tournament this season, a feat that no Penn State team has ever accomplished. To do that the Lions cannot lose another game. They have a game Saturday at Hobart.

“Lacrosse to Hobart is like football is to Penn State,” he said, “They are having a lacrosse festival and there will be well over 10,000 people on hand. It’s kind of intimidating, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to shut that out and play the game.”

In his senior year, Jamie Morse made the rare transition from being a goalie to an attackman for the men’s lacrosse team.

Until this year, Morse and J.J. Pearl battled every day of every season for the starting position of goalie. In his freshman year, Morse won the starting job from Pearl. Morse had a save precentage of 61. Pearl won the position in their sophomore year, and they split time in their junior year. And this year everyone decided it was time for a change.

“There was always a lot of pressure,” Morse said. “Every time somebody scored a goal, I found myself looking at the sidelines to see if I was going to be substituted.”

Morse said that his move from goalie to attackman was probably the best move for both Pearl and himself. He said that both he and Pearl were feeling the pressure, and it was affecting both of their performances.

“Every day at practice, J.J. and I would be battling it out,” Morse said, “I felt like I was reaching my peak before the game, and it was probably the same for him.”

“I cannot say that I’ve ever seen another player go from being a goalie to attack,” Coach Glen Thiel said.

It is an unusual switch. Thiel said he said that he has seen a couple of players go from being goalies to long-stick defense, but never to the attack. Morse is a good garbage player, Thiel said, always in the right place at the right time. Much of that came from his experience as a goalie.

“I think that being a goalie so long has helped (Morse) to anticipate where the goalie will be, and to shoot opposite of him,” Thiel said. “Morse has been doing a great job screening for us also. He knows where the goalie needs to be looking and is right there blocking his sight.”

“As a goalie, I watched attackers and I learned through their eyes,” Morse said. “It helpes me to know where and when I am going to shoot.”

Before this year, Morse had only played attackman in pickup games and just experimenting by himself. He said that he has made the transition comfortably.

Morse said that he has become confident with this new position. He is the third-highest scorer for the Lions this season. He scored three of the Lions’ 11 goals in their win against the Scarlet Knights, breaking a 10-game losing streak against Rutgers.

Morse said that he wants to make the Northeast Regional Tournament this year. Since he started at Penn State, Penn State has always come close to making it, but has never quite pulled it off. This year the Lions are undefeated to date, but their biggest challange is yet to come. Today they will face Towson State, which just defeated No. 1 Loyola.

Morse said that he will not treat this game any different than any other game. He said that he does not let up for a game.

“Every game is a big game,” Morse said, “If I start to let up just because a team is not doing so well, that is when stupid mistakes come in, and that can cost you the game.”

Gerry Gramaglia said that he started boxing this year to get into shape and to have some new challenges.

This season he got that and more when he beat Chris Williams of Lock Haven Saturday night to become the Northeast Regional Champion at 190.

Gramaglia and four of his teammates won Saturday night to become Northeast Regional Champions in their weight divisions, and will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the national championships. Representing Penn State will be Ben Ladrido at 125, Walter Blake at 132, Paul Maginnis at 156, Jim Ustynoski at 172 and Gramaglia at 190. This is the largest number of boxers that Penn State has ever sent for the national championships.

Gramaglia, who looks more like a defensive tackle than a boxer, charged out for the first round and didn’t hesitate to show Mike Lyons of Lock Haven that he was ready to fight. Gramaglia dominated the first round, both boxers staying nose to nose while they punched. In the second round it became obvious that both boxers tired from the first round exchange. By the end of the third round, the average was about one punch every 30 seconds, but each one counted. Gramaglia had an energy burst at the end of the third round and threw enough shots to win the bout and the championship.

Walter Blake danced around Joe Sowers of United States Military Academy, taunting him as if he knew he had the bout won in the second round. It wasn’t an offensive bout for Blake, but it was enough to win him the bout and the regionals.

“(Blake) is an incredible boxer,” said Coach Bill Wrable. “He’s doing great, but he needs to do more punching and less of the other stuff.”

Blake said that he had no doubt that he’d win the bout, and that he worked too hard to blow it. Blake said that he wasn’t very enthusiastic coming into the day, but seeing Kevin Cull’s bout truely inspired him.

“I was feeling really flat today, until I saw Kev (Cull),” said Blake. “He boxed two days in a row, the second bout with a broken nose, seeing what he gave really picked me up.”

Cull was hitting so hard Friday night that he knocked his opponent into the aisles, literally. In a hard-hitting volley against the ropes with Turso Valls of Lock Haven, Cull gave one hard shot to the face of Valls that knocked him through the ropes and down to the floor. Valls continued the bout, but was unable to break Cull’s momentum. However, he did manage to break Cull’s nose with a headbutt.

Saturday, in the finals, Cull’s nose began to bleed early in the first round, but he still hit hard. Many times referee John Christopher stopped the bout to check to make sure Cull hadn’t lost too much blood. He still put out an incredible effort, and kept the bout extremely close. In the end the decision went against the blood-covered Cull.

There’s a lot of things that a person can do while he is being hugged, but boxing is not one of them. Frustrated, Seth Lyter tried jabbing a few shots at Williams while he was being squeezed like a roll of Charmin. Lyter put up a good bout, but lost because he couldn’t gain the points by punching that Williams did by hugging.

The third round for Ustynoski was as close to a two-hit round that he could get. Ustynoski came out and hit Greg Leland of USMA, then Leland hit the floor. The referee then stopped the bout, giving Ustynoski the win. Ustynoski advanced to finals, and became the champion by a walkover. Maginnis also advanced to the national championships by way of walkover.

Ladrido seemed to start out fighting a defensive bout against Dave Machamer of Lock Haven, but broke out of that with a solid flurry of punches at the end of the round. From the second round on Ladrido had the bout well in hand.

The boxers will be leaving for the national championships in Colorado Springs on April 1, and will be returning April 6.

“It seems that the higher intensity workouts paid off,” Wrable said, “and they’ll be even harder between now and nationals.”

The boxing team will be hosting the Northeast Regional Championships at 8 tomorrow and Saturday night in White Building.

Penn State will have nine representatives, one for each weight class. Box-offs were held last Friday to determine who will be representing the boxers for each weight class. Mike Joyce did not participate in the box-off due to an injury he sustained prior to his bout.

The representatives for Penn State will be Ben Ladrido at 125, Walt Blake at 132, Howie Rodgers at 147, Paul Maginnis at 156, Kevin Cull at 165, Jim Ustynoski at 172, Matt Marino at 180, Gerry Gramaglia at 190 and Seth Lyter will be boxing in the heavyweight division.

There will be representatives from Westfield State College, Army and Norwich. Penn State has faced many of these opponents before but will not know who it is fighting until the night of the bouts.

“This is the first time I have truly have been nervous about a match,” Blake said. “It’s a fear of the unknown. I don’t know what exactly I am preparing for, but after the first punch it will all be gone.”

In the regionals, there will be between two and four bouts for each weight class. The winners will continue on to Colorado Springs for the national championships.

Lyter said Penn State has a good chance to send the more representatives to the nationals than it ever has. There has been a lot of fire at practice this week, he said.

To the boxers, the words “Spring Break” simply meant that there were more hours in the day to practice. Coach Bill Wrable said that after the boxers had two bad weeks, he issued a challenge to the boxers to get aggressive and get into better shape. The number and the intensity of the drills have increased.

Student coaching assistants Kelly Cordes and Craig Bernier have helped to run these drills and keep the boxers up to par.

“This is what the whole year is about, this was a good time for the guys to hit their peak shape, ” said Wrable. “We’ll find out if it worked on Friday.”

“It is realy an inspiration when your coach is doing the workouts along with you,” Blake said. “It is easy to say to do it and sit back and watch. It really makes you work when he’s working out along with you.”

Boxer Walter Blake defeated the two-time national collegiate boxing champion at 132 on March 7, when the boxing team faced MIT, Westfield State, CCSU and Lock Haven at Central Conneticut State University.

A week of intense practice paid off as the boxers won three of their four bouts last Sunday at CCSU. After two weeks of disappointing losses, the boxers decided that it was time to get serious. The change was apparent, as the they were in better shape than they’ve been in all season, and found themselves in better shape than most of their opponents.

Blake won his bout with Dave Machamer of Lock Haven when the referee stopped the contest in the second round. With the swing of an authoritative left, Blake dropped the two-time national champ.

“I’ve lost too many bouts that have come to decisions,” Blake said. “I decided that this one had to end before that could happen to me again.”

Ben Ladrido had a decisive win in his 125-pound bout against Brendon Bellew of MIT. It was Bellew’s first collegiate bout and Ladrido carried him through the three rounds, Coach Bill Wrable said. The bout was a good tune-up for regionals, Wrable said.

The boxers have long had troubles when their bouts come to decisions, and that was the case for 180-pounder Bob Schirf. Schirf lost in a close decision to Greg Leland of Westfield State. Schirf started the bout slow, but picked up a lot of momentum late in the second round. He knocked Leland down twice in the third round, but still came up short in the end.

Mike Joyce won his 165-pound bout against Ed Chappa of CCSU, who could not take any more of Joyce’s battery. Joyce said the fact that he was in better shape could well have made the difference that won him the bout.

“He faced a different style of boxer than he was used to, and he dealt with it incredibly,” said Wrable.

This Friday and Saturday Penn State will be hosting the regional championships. Penn State will have nine representatives boxing, one from each weight class. The winners of these will go on to the national boxing championships in Colorado Springs.

With the Northeast Collegiate Boxing Regionals rapidly approaching, the boxing club find itself with a lot of slugging to do before their backs are off the ropes.

The boxers have lost 10 of their last 11 bouts in the past two weeks. Three of these losses came last week, when the boxers faced Virginia Military Institute and Lock Haven at Shippensburg.

Chip Finney lost in a decision to Carl Engstrom of VMI. The first two rounds came out nearly equal but Finney lost in the third round.

In a similar story Kent Bernier had a strong beginning and found himself comming up short in the end. Bernier started the match by out-punching, out-manuvering and just plain out-boxing Vince Zalisky of Lock Haven.

Zalisky soon turned the tables and knocked Bernier down to stop the fight.

Matt Marino had the third Penn State loss in his bout agianst Turso Valls of Lock Haven.

“I tried, I hit hard, It just came out the other way,” Marino said. “A loss never hurt anyone. I still learned from the match.”

The boxers will face many of the same boxers that they already have been troubled by when they host the Northeast Regionals, Mar. 20 and 21.

“This is what the whole season is about,” Coach Bill Wrable said.

Each school will have one representative for each weight class. Penn State will choose its fighters in box-offs, Mar. 13 and14.

Wrable says that some major changes are in order. He says that the whole team needs to become more aggressive if they are going to do win the close matches and do well in the regionals.

The boxers have a week off and Wrable says that he is going to pick up the pace at practice.

The boxer’s next bout will be Mar. 7, at Central Conneticut State University.