Apparently Penn State field hockey fans are not the only people noticing the dominant play of the Nittany Lions backs. The Big Ten named junior back Molly Schriver its defensive player of the week. She is the third Lion to be given the award this season. Schriver helped the team shut out all three opponents last week.
A noticeable difference in the play of both Schriver and fellow back Sara Cahill -- named conference defensive player of the week earlier in the season -- over the past three games has been their ability to penetrate deep into the opposition's territory.
Schriver and Cahill can routinely be seen slashing through openings in the opponent's midfield. This, coach Char Morett says, is something that allows the Penn State possession game to blossom.
"Ideally that's what you want -- you want to have backs that can go on the attack," Morett said. "They're getting much more confident with doing that, especially Molly."
Defense has Akstin's back
Junior goalkeeper Megan Akstin is allowing an average of less than one goal per game -- good enough for best in the Big Ten. Also best in the conference are Akstin's six complete game shutouts, and one combined effort shutout on Sunday against West Chester.
But upon closer examination of the statistics, a fair share of the credit, as it so often does on this Lion team, must be given to the defense.
Though she has recorded at least part of a shutout in more than half of the team's games this season, Akstin has only been required to make 3.62 saves per game -- an indication of how few shots the defense gives up.
"The defense is awesome," Akstin said. "All of the girls work together, they're talking [more on the field] ... it's awesome working with those girls."
Come one, come all
The Lions are the biggest draw in the Big Ten, as recent attendance figures show. Morett's club draws, on average, the second highest amount of fans to home games, and the most to road contests.
Lonely day for goalies
Zero shots. Sounds more like the description of a sober weeknight than the summary of a field hockey game. Yet it is true, the Lions did not yield a single shot to West Chester on Sunday -- the team's third consecutive shutout.
Dutch imports
Together, No. 3 Michigan State's Annebet Beerman and Veerle Goudswaard -- both from the Netherlands -- are averaging nearly 12 shots per game. Goudswaard alone is averaging 3.50 points per contest.
It should be interesting to see how the acclaimed backs for the Lions, who surrender an average of under nine shots per game, match up against the potent Spartan attack.
Where is the love?
Even after winning all three games over the past week, the Lions (8-5, 2-0) are still at No. 19 in the newly released rankings -- the same spot they occupied last week.
