The Lions have plenty of reasons to be excited. Their No. 2 seed is the highest in team history, which means they will host tournament games for as long as they are alive, up until the College Cup, which will be played in North Carolina. Penn State is on a 38-game home-winning streak and has not lost at home under head coach Paula Wilkins, who took over in 2001. Also, the Lions went on a 19-game unbeaten streak following their last loss, which bodes well for them in the tournament following the loss to Ohio State.
Penn State will be facing a Binghamton team that is making its first ever Div. I NCAA tournament appearance. The Bearcats received an automatic bid for winning the America East championship. They come in as a hot team with a four-game winning streak, including three straight shutouts. Binghamton also posted a very respectable 5-3-1 record on the road, but it has not faced a team as talented as Penn State or played in a stadium as intimidating as Jeffrey Field. Still, the pressure is all on the Lions because they are expected to win, and Wilkins knows it won't be easy.
"I think the big thing for [Binghamton] is it's their first time in the NCAA," she said. "You know they're going to be very excited. They're a very good team, well organized, and well coached. I think that we're going to be in for a game."
This season, the Lions were a terrific defensive team, allowing just five goals in the first 19 games and posting 15 shutouts. In their last two games, however, they gave up four goals, including two in the loss to the Buckeyes. Penn State is looking to return to its dominant defensive form in the NCAA tournament against the Bearcats.
"I think we're just going to go back to the same mentality that we had," Pezzullo said. "We want a shutout. That's our goal. The goals that were scored last weekend were kind of unfortunate. One was when we had a defender out of the game because of a red card and another was a penalty kick. We just got a little unlucky. Our goal is to win and get a shutout because that's what we know we can do."
With Hermann Trophy semi-finalist Tiffany Weimer leading the offense and a return to form on defense, the Lions shouldn't have a problem with Binghamton. The Bearcats have scored only 39 goals in their 20 games, to Penn State's 51, and have yet to face a defense as stingy at the Lions'. Binghamton does have four players with double-digit point totals, but none can compare to Weimer's 61. In fact, combined, the Bearcats' top four scorers have 66 points, just five more than Weimer.
With talent and statistics in their favor, and the bitter taste of defeat still in their mouths, the Lions are looking to prove worthy of their No. 2 seed and continue to lengthen their streak on Jeffrey Field.
"It's a chance for them to show their home crowd what they can do and what they've been doing all season," Wilkins said.
