Goals continued to remain at a premium for the Penn State field hockey team this weekend, as it was shut out 1-0 in overtime yesterday at No. 7 Old Dominion and dropped a 3-1 decision Saturday at No. 1 North Carolina.
The Tar Heels out-shot Penn State 14-6 and they forced six penalty corners to the Lions' one. Nittany Lions coach Charlene Morett said her team failed to capitalize on many of their chances against the Tar Heels inside the 25-yard-line.
"We have to find ways to use our stick skills and beat a defender one-on-one," Morett said. "We had chances to do it and we backed off."
Penn State came out strong against North Carolina, as the Lions' Neilye Stoner answered Abby Martin's goal at the 17:42 mark with one of her own just 1:26 later.
Stoner eluded the Carolina defense, sneaking in from her center back position to beat goalie Amy Tran from the top of the circle.
"It was a good feeling, that we tied the game," Stoner said.
The sophomore also made a goal line save earlier in the game on a shot that rolled behind Lion goalie Annie Zinakavich.
Carolina midfielder Carrie Lingo broke the tie with 30:52 to play in the second half off a penalty corner. Lingo found an opening in the Lions defense and deflected in Martin's shot. Stoner said it was her job to guard the post and mark Lingo.
"I think I could have stepped up and prevented that goal," she said.
Martin, who plays both back and midfield for the Tar Heels, tallied Carolina's third goal with just less than 11 minutes to play in the second half.
Just 34 seconds into overtime against the Lady Monarchs of Old Dominion, forward Angie Loy, a native of Loysville, Pa., rebounded Tiffany Snow's shot that Zinkavich thwarted and came right on to her stick.
Morett said the Lions did a slightly better job attacking the goal inside the 25 than they did against North Carolina, even though the Lady Monarchs out-shot Penn State 14-4.
Lions midfielder Kiley Kulina, who Morett said sparked any Lions attack, said, "(We had) maybe one or two opportunities. We are going to be working on (forcing) corners and play inside the 25 to get more shots on the goal."
"The last two weeks we worked on building a strong defense," Morett said. "We need to initiate a stronger attack. She said that the forwards need to play stronger, though the attack from all positions has to improve.
Kulina said Penn State's defensive unit of Stoner, Jill Martz, Kate Bender and Kelly Concini played well in limiting the Monarchs to one goal.
"They did a great job trying to get the ball out of the defensive end," she said. "They held their ground, they stayed with their girl, they kept their stick down."
