GAME 19: Oct. 25, Ohio State Buckeyes (11-6, 3-2 Big Ten) Today's Game: In the final weekend of conference play, the second-place Lady Lions are pitted against the third-place Buckeyes. Ohio State is hoping to at least tie for second by trying to knock off Penn State. The Lions still have some hope of winning a share of the title, which lie in the hands of Michigan State. If PSU wins and Michigan loses against the Spartans, then both teams would have to share the regular season Big Ten crown. In the three Big Ten Spartan losses, Michigan State has taken each of the teams to overtime. This final weekend will determine the seedings for next weekend's Big Ten Tournament. Penn State will have an advntage in this afternoon's game. Assistant coach Jon O'Haire has spent most of his career as an assistant under head coach Anne Wilkinson first at American University and most recently at Ohio State. Penn State Coach's Corner: Head coach Charlene Morett is in her 14th season at the Lady Lion helm and 17th overall. She boasts an overall record of 267-89-16 and a 230-73-8 record at Penn State. Last year, Morett reached yet another milestone, winning the 250th game of her career (10/15/99 vs. Northwestern). She guided Penn State to its 18th-straight NCAA Tournament and the 13th under her guidance. Her 1999 Lady Lions received 17 postseason honors, including Big Ten Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year (Tracey Larson), and four were named USFHA All-Americans. The Lions also reached No. 1 in the first poll of the season last year. Since entering the Big Ten in 1992, Morett's teams have garned three conference titles and an unprecedented four straight tournament titles from 1995-98. Scouting OSU: The Buckeyes are sitting in third place in the Big Ten standings and are hoping to upset the Lady Lions tie for second in the league. Five of OSU's six losses have come to higher-ranked opponents. Ohio State lost to Iowa, 2-1, in early October. The 11 wins are to unranked foes. The Buckeyes were shutout by Virginia (2-0) and UConn (3-0). OSU has one-goal losses to Michigan (2-1) and Kent State (4-3), while losing to James Madison by a socre of 4-2. Katie Hobson leads the Buckeyes in scoring with 29 points and Maije van Nouhuys has 25. Van Nouhuys leads the team with 11 goals and Hobson is the squad's assist leader with 15. Goalkeeper Allison Blanton boasts a 1.41 goals against average and a .824 save percentage. Nationa Stats (as of 10/24): Among the nation's leaders, Ohio State is ranked just ahead of Penn State in scoring defense in 13th place at 1.20. The offense, however, produces 2.87 goals per game which is ranked 11th. Mariana Solorzano's 0.818 goals per game through 11 games is 20th andHobson checks in at 0.813 assists per game which is 11th. Blanton's .824 save percentage is 15th and the low 1.37 goals against average is 19th. PSU vs. OSU: The Lady Lions are ahead in the all-time series, 22-4-2. Penn State has won the last three games in a row by a combined score of 8-2. However, PSU lost in Columbus, Ohio, in 1998 by a 1-0 count but won last year at the venue, 4-1. PSU vs. Ohio State
1 at Big Ten Tournament Last Time Out: Penn State got back on the winning track, defeating Pennsylvania, 3-0. The Lions got off to a sluggish start, taking a 1-0 lead into the halftime. The team turned up the intensity early on, scoring two more goals to put the game away. Seniors Traci Anselmo and Maegan Galie were the only Lions involved in the scoring. Anselmo tallied two goals, while Galie taked on a goal and an assist. Win Streak Ends at 11: The Lady Lions were on an 11-game tear until Friday night when Michigan came to Bigler Field and defeated Penn State, 1-0, in a Big Ten showdown. The win assured Michigan of at least a tie for the Big Ten regular season title. The 11-game win streak was the longest since 1993 when the Lions won a school-record 15-consecutive games. In that season, the Lions won the Big Ten regular season and tournament crowns. That season also saw PSU advance to the NCAA Tournament Final Four. At Home: The Lady Lions have been tough to beat at home. In the program's 36-year history, it has notched a 216-43-13 record. Penn State has been even better since moving to Bigler Field from Holuba Field in 1996. The Lions have won 39 of 46 games and set the school record with 25 straight-home wins last year. The streak spanned 1997-99. Anselmo Tabbed Top Penn State Fall Athlete: In a web site fan poll administered by www.GoPSUsports.com , the fans voted senior co-captain Traci Anselmo Penn State's Top Fall Athlete. Anslemo won the poll by a large margin, garnering 41.5% of the votes. She led women's soccer star Christie Welsh (23.8), men's soccer standout Derek Potteiger (14.6), cross country runner Chris McGinness (12.9) and NCAA Championship volleyball team member Mishka Levy (7.2). Lions Out For The Season: After losing control of the Big Ten race for the regular season conference title to Michigan and snapping an 11-game win streak, the Lions got even more bad news after that game. Junior Kiley Kulina suffered a broken foot during Friday night's game and will be out for the remainder of the regular season and for the Big Ten Champion-ship. She hopes to be back on the field in time for the NCAA Tournament beginning November 11. The prognosis does not look so promising for true freshman Neilye Stoner. She shattered her thumb during the course of the game against the Wolverines and will be out for the rest of the year. Senior co-captian Mandy Robinson has already sat out for several weeks with a stress fracture in her hip. Head coach Charlene Morett hopes that she will be cleared to play again in time for the conference championship. Players of the Week! Martz Named Player of the Week: The Penn State defense and sophomore defender Jill Martz had a solid week last week. Martz's defensive efforts led to Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors. A starter on defense in every game, to limit Temple and Indiana to a combined six shots, while helping PSU goalkeepers post the fifth shutout of the season over the Hoosiers on Saturday. IU was allowed just one shot for the game. Martz's defense in the two contests allowed for transition opportunities which resulted in two assists and her first career goal. The Penn State defense has been solid all season, with Martz playing a key role. The times has the Lion defense not given up a shot or a penalty corner for the entire game. Galie Named Player of the Week: For the third time this season a Lady Lion has been honored for her play on the field. Senior Maegan Galie notched the game-tying and game-winning goals in the 3-2 overtime win at No. 18 Michigan State. Her efforts in that game earned her Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors. It is the first time she receives the honor this season. She leads the team in assists and is second in scoring. Anselmo Named Player of the Week: Senior co-captain Traci Anselmo had a breakout weekend at Connecticut and Boston College. During that weekend, she notched 11 points which led to Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week laurels for the first time this season. She led the team to a 5-4 victory against the Huskies with four goals. Against the Eagles, Anselmo recorded a goal and an assist. The 1999 All-American was named Big Ten Player of the Week and National Player of the Week once last season en route to a slew of honors. Zinkavich Named Player of the Week: Redshirt freshman Annie Zinkavich made her first collegiate appearance in the Lady Lions' season opener against Old Dominion. In 44 minutes of playing time, Zinkavich did not give up an ODU goal and made six saves. The following day against Kent State, she earned her first career start and posted her first career shutout in 70 minutes. Her performances earned her Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first week of the season. Currently, she is ranked 10th nationally with a 1.12 goals against average. Statistics and rankings are as of 10/10. Among the Big Ten Leaders (as of 10/24): Three Lady Lions are among the Big Ten's top 10 scoring leaders, and seven are among the top 27. Senior co-captain Traci Anselmo is just two points behind the leader with 34 points on 12 goals and 10 assists. Classmate Maegan Galie trails Anselmo by just four points and is tied for third with 10 goals and assists for 30 points. The last Lion in the top 10 is junior Kiley Kulina. She ties for eighth at 28 points (12 goals, 4 assists). Redshirt freshman Timarie Legel's 15 points is 16th, while junior Meredith Shulzitski and true-freshman Neilye Stoner each have 14 points in 17th. In a tie for 19th is sophomore Jill Martz. She has 13 points. The Nation's Leaders: As of October 24, Despite the two losses last week, the Lady Lions still figure prominently among the nation's top 20. As a team, the 3.68 goals per game scored is seventh and the scoring defense of a low 1.21 is 14th. The 2.47 margin of victory ranks seventh. Individually, senior Traci Anselmo remains in the top 20, checking in at 19th with 34 points and 10 assists. Also in 19th place is senior Maegan Galie who ties with Anselmo with 10 assists. After placing third last week in goals against average, redhsirt freshman Annie Zinkavich dropped a bit and is now 10th at 1.13. Lions "D"-Up: The Lions' defense has been tough to penetrate this season. The stingy backfield has not allowed a shot attempt in four games and three times it has not given up a penalty corner. Maybe that is why Penn State is ranked 14th in scoring defense, allowing just 1.21 goals per game as of October 24. St. Joseph's was the first foe that the Lions blanked in the shots column in early September. The three other times the Lions silnced its opponents' attack, they also did not allow a corner. Syracuse fell to the Lions 1-0 in overtime, but had no attack to speak of, taking zero shots and forcing zero corners. The same was the case with West Chester and the Big Ten's Northwestern. Three other times, the Lions allowed two or fewer shots. Century Mark: With two assists in the 4-0 win over St. Joseph's, senior co-captain Traci Anselmo became the 12th Lady Lion to ever register 100 career points. She now is just six points behind Brenda Stauffer ('82) in eighth with 132 points. Her five goals at Connecticut (4) and at Boston College (1) not only puts her in the top 10 on Penn State's career goals list, but she catapulted up the charts and is ranked fifth all-time with 55 career goals, five goals ahead of head coach Charlene Morett. Approaching the Top: Senior Maegan Galie ranks among the best field hockey players in Penn State history. She moved into the top 10 on Penn State's career goals list earlier this season and her goal at Northwestern is enough to edge out head coach Charlene Morett. Galie is alone in fifth with 51 goals, Morett notched 50 career goals in her four years at Penn State. Galie is already in the top 10 in career assists and career points. She passed 1999 Big Ten Player of the Year Tracey Larson and has 46 (6th) after picking up one against Northwestern. Fourth all-time with 148 career points, Galie is just five points behind 1998 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Dawn Lammey. Meanwhile, senior co-captain Traci Anselmo entered the top 10 in goals and points this season as well. She has made a steady climb all season and is now fifth with 55 goals. She passed 1999 Big Ten Player of the Year Tracey Larson on the career points list and is in eighth place with 132. Lions Represent the U.S.: A number of Lady Lions represented the United States in the spring and summer of 2000. The Big Ten's 1999 Player of the Year and former Lion Tracey Larson secured a spot on the U.S. National squad for the second-straight year. Senior Maegan Galie was named to the Under 21 squad in February and then moved up to the Developmental Team that toured Canada this summer. Senior co-captain Traci Anselmo was again a member of the Senior Reserve Team, while junior Kliey Kulina and sophomore Jill Martz were both members of the Under 21 team. Tough Slate: The Lady Lions have traditionally taken on one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and the 2000 campaign is no different. Appearing on the schedule are seven of last year's 16 NCAA Tournament teams (ODU, Kent State, Iowa, Michigan, UVA, UNC, UConn). Big Ten foe Michigan was an NCAA finalist. Eleven of the 20 teams ranked in this week's STX/NFHCA National Coaches polls are Penn State opponents, including six of the top 10. On Deck: The Lady Lions will have to wait and see what happens in the Big Ten's final weekend of competition for seedings in the conference tournament which will take place November 3-5 at the University of Michigan. Lady Lions on the Air: Catch the Lady Lions live on the radio at WMAJ 1450 AM or on Penn State's official athletics web site at www.GoPSUsports.com four times this season. The schedule is as follows:
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