The women's soccer team will determine its own destiny in the Big Ten this weekend in a critical early-season road swing.
Penn State (1-1) will meet Illinois on Friday, Indiana on Saturday and Purdue on Sunday.
Coach Denny Hall said he expects to take two games this weekend.
"We can expect hard, physical soccer," Hall said. "Illinois is the strongest opponent and Purdue is the weaker sister out of the group, if there is one. But we need to take two games if we want to hang around in the Big Ten. It's realistic to think that we can take two."
Last Saturday, Penn State opened the Big Ten regular season with a 3-1 loss to Michigan at Pollock Field. But on Tuesday night, the women defeated St. Francis in Loretto, 2-1.
Hall pointed out that some of his players dealt with "freshman nerves" in the first half of the Michigan game. Consequently, inconsistent play resulted as Penn State trailed at the half, 2-0.
The game featured outstanding goaltending from sophomore Laura Jackson. Jackson was later replaced by Devon Indig in the second half after she aggravated an injury.
Sophomore midfielder JeanMarie McGinley scored the lone Penn State goal.
On Tuesday night, Penn State rebounded from the opening loss with a road win against St. Francis. However, Hall said the game didn't begin the way he had hoped.
"We were tentative in what we were doing in the first 10 to 12 minutes of the game," Hall said.
But Penn State did lead at the half, 2-0, behind goals from freshman Traci Brody and sophomore Amber Griffin. Jackson provided strong goaltending again for the team.
Hall said the key to the St. Francis game was the play of McGinley and sophomore defender Kim Hjerpstedt. They constantly frustrated St. Francis' best player, Terri Muldoon.
"They took her right out of the match," Hall said.
As for the upcoming weekend trip, Hall said he expects sophomore goaltender Michele Easterday to see some action. Also, junior midfielder Lauri Morgan, who has seen limited action so far, will return to action. Both players are returning from injuries. Hall also said he expects to get 90 minutes from sophomore Brett Hannagan this weekend. Hannagan's minutes have been reduced in the first two games due to illness.
