Before leaving for New England, Neilye Stoner said she was confident the No. 5 Penn State field hockey team could win the Big Ten title this year.

After edging No. 8 Connecticut 5-4 on the road Friday and shutting out No. 14 Boston College on its home court yesterday, the Lady Lions (5-2) have even more confidence than before.

The Lions struck first against UConn, when Lions senior Traci Anselmo cashed in on a penalty stroke just 10 minutes into the contest. Anselmo led the attack against the Huskies, scoring four of Penn State's five goals — a career high for Anselmo.

Forward Maegan Galie was the next to strike and put Penn State on top, 2-0. Anselmo added the second of her four goals with 8:32 left in the half to open up a 3-0 lead.

Just seconds later, UConn put a shot passed Lions goalkeeper Annie Zinkavich, and the two teams went into the half with a 3-1 score.

The Huskies came out in the second half and scored two quick goals. Anselmo retaliated by posting two more for Penn State. UConn tacked up one more goal in the closing minutes of the game, to make the final score 5-4.

"Traci had an outstanding game and played awesome tonight," Penn State coach Char Morett said in a press release. "We battled the whole game and gave it a great effort. I am glad we were able to come away with a win."

Anselmo continued to play strong in the team's second game of the road trip. She assisted forward Kiley Kulina in the Lions first goal. Back Mandi Robinson scored the game's final goal midway through the first half, to make the final score 2-0.

The Lions start their Big Ten schedule next weekend when they take on Iowa at noon on Saturday at Bigler Field.