UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Nov. 7, 2003) - Playing without head coach Char Morett motivated the Penn State field hockey team as the Nittany Lions scored the first three goals and went on to beat No. 5 Iowa 3-1 Friday in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at Bigler Field.

Morett was out of town due to a death in the family and her fourth-seeded Penn State team rallied behind her to avenge an earlier-season 1-0 loss to the Hawkeyes Sept. 27 at Iowa.

Morett will be on the bench when the Nittany Lions take the field 11 a.m. Saturday versus No. 1 seed Michigan at Bigler Field.

"Everyone knew what needed to be done today," said Penn State assistant coach Lisa Bervinchak-Love. "Everybody took the responsibility and brought their "A" game to the field. It was an exciting game to watch."

Junior Michele Rigby (Dover, Del.) helped the Nittany Lions to avenge the earlier loss to Iowa by scoring the game's first goal. She stole the ball from an Iowa defender near midfield and dribbled on goal, where she deked goalkeeper Barbara Weinburg and put the ball past her for her fifth goal of the season with 13:44 remaining in the first half.

Junior Karin Grap (Van Etten, N.Y.) had a hand in the next two Penn State goals to give it a comfortable 3-0 lead. Grap took a pass at the end line and to the left of Weinburg. She held the ball and drew double coverage before hitting junior Amanda Eckert (Littiz, Pa.) at the top of the circle. Eckert put the ball into the left side of the net at 31:07 to make it 2-0 Penn State heading into halftime.

Grap and the Nittany Lions didn't wait long to extend their lead to 3-0 as she scored from about 10 yards out just 32 seconds into the final half.

The Hawkeyes broke Penn State's shutout bid with 13:59 remaining in the game. Heather Schnepf took a rebound off an Annie Zinkavich (Kingston, Pa.) save and lifted it over her left shoulder to make the score 3-1 Nittany Lions.

"Obviously, (the game) wasn't what we expected," said Iowa head coach Tracey Griesbaum. "We go into every game expecting to be successful, and we weren't. That's hard. Penn State played a really strong transition game. I thought they were down our throats pretty much right away and we didn't take care of the ball." Zinkavich stopped three shots in the game and senior Heather Conroy (Duncannon, Pa.) had seven shots as the Penn State outshot the Hawkeyes 14-4 in the game.

"This game, we definitely stepped up and brought our 'A' game," said Rigby, who set a career high with 17 when she scored the game's first goal. "We took advantage of their mistakes with breakaways and everything else. It was just a matter of showing up this time."

 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament (Friday at Bigler Field) No. 4 Penn State 3 No. 5 Iowa 1 First-half Scoring 1. Michele Rigby, PSU, (unassisted) 21:16; 2. Amanda Eckert, PSU, (Karin Grap) 31:07. Second-half Soring 3. Karin Grap, PSU, (unassisted) 35:32; 4. Heather Schnepf, Iowa, (unassisted) 56:01. Shots: Iowa - 4; PSU - 14. Saves: Iowa - 6 (Barbara Weinberg); PSU - 3 (Annie Zinkavich). Corners: Iowa - 3; PSU - 12. Records: Iowa - 11-7, 2-4; PSU - 16-5, 3-3. Next game: Iowa season over; PSU versus No. 1 Michigan, 11 a.m. Saturday.

For the full box score [in PDF format], click here.