"Loyola and Duke are top teams so we'll have our hands full," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said.
These next two games will close out a brutal opening schedule that put Penn State up against four ranked teams, all of which were ranked higher than the Lions prior to the game. Penn State opened the season with a 9-7 upset against then-No. 14 Ohio State two weeks ago, followed by a 14-6 drubbing at the hands of No. 9 Notre Dame last Sunday.
"Starting out with Ohio State, Notre Dame and now Loyola, those are three great challenges at home right away," Thiel said. "Then we travel to Duke. That's a big challenge at the start."
Loyola and Duke present much of the same challenges the Lions faced in their first two games of the year. Loyola lost a close game to No. 12 Towson, 7-5, in its opener. The Greyhounds, despite the loss, were impressive defensively against one of the nation's top attacks, especially goalie Mike Fretwell. Fretwell made 19 saves on 26 shots on net. Penn State ran into a hot goaltender in Notre Dame's Stewart Crosland last Sunday and could only manage to get six goals by him. Fretwell will pose a similar challenge. Duke will give the Lions all they can handle with its high-powered attack. The Blue Devils, fresh off a 15-5 spanking of the Virginia Military Institute, are averaging 13 goals per game, led by freshman midfielder Zack Greer's 14. Duke will put the banged-up Lions' defense to the test. Goaltender Chris Courteau is still bothered by a broken thumb and defenseman Matt Mulqueen will most likely not play until after the break.
To this point, the Lions have not been physically overmatched, and two good performances against Loyola and Duke could give the team the confidence to make a run at the NCAA tournament as it gets healthy over spring break.
"If we can get through these first four games and get healthy, we have a chance to be a really good squad," Thiel said.
