The No. 2 Penn State women's soccer team (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) was not pleased to read that yours truly, in the Sept. 23 issue of The Daily Collegian, predicted that it would go 17-2 and lose first to No. 16 Wisconsin. The second loss would come against Michigan or Michigan State as part of a weekend trip to the "Water Winter Wonderland" State.
I proposed that the Nittany Lions post the prediction in the locker room and use it as motivation while going after the national title.
Junior Holly Lincoln jokingly (I think...I hope) proposed they use it to fine-tune their dart-throwing skills.
Senior Goalie Erin McLeod in particular was not pleased with the Big Ten forecast.
"She IMed me and said 'Who is this kid and where can I find him?' " Penn State women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins said.
Wilkins approached the All-America goaltender to remind her of the prediction following McLeod's 2-0 shutout over Indiana Friday night.
"We'll see what we can do," McLeod said of the Wisconsin trip.
To some Lions, the two losses appeared random.
"Did you guys pick them out of a hat?" Zoe Bouchelle said.
Not quite.
The trip to Wisconsin will rank with the travel dates to California as the most taxing of the season. At least for the Los Angeles trip in September, Penn State did not have to head to a second city.
Penn State travels to Evanston, Ill., to tackle the Wildcats and hope to improve to 11-0 on the season in a Friday night game.
Then the Lions pack up and journey to Madison, Wisc., for a Sunday afternoon game against the only other ranked team in the Big Ten, the Wisconsin Badgers.
"Three yards and a cloud of dust. It's the same as women's soccer. It's physical," Wilkins said referring to conference play. "That's the way teams in the Big Ten feel they're going to be able to compete with us."
But with Lions already lining up for the training room, the physicality could take a toll.
As for the trip to the Great Lake State, Penn State plays the Wolverines on Friday, followed by a Sunday game in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan hosts the Big Ten Tournament this year November, so that should be motivation enough going into Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan State, on the tail end of the bill, will not be as easy to get up for, as it wraps up Big Ten play.
As if the schedule wasn't enough, the Lions need to fix some holes exposed Sunday in a 3-2 OT win against Purdue.
Notably, they have started slowly and ended lackadaisically throughout the season, with the former ailment being the most persistent.
Sunday's game against the Boilermakers illustrated that. PSU came out flatfooted and allowed a goal in the first eight minutes. They eventually used the home energy to take a 2-1 lead before the break.
Following Friday's win, the Lions felt they had addressed that problem.
"We're getting to know each other better, but we're also playing with a lot more urgency," McLeod said after the Indiana game, where the Hoosiers did not register a shot until about the 83rd minute. "Right up until the last few minutes, we are playing really hard."
Wrong. The Lions saw the return of second half-intensity lapses, as Purdue capitalized on one of several breakdowns to tie the game at two. Penn State prevailed in overtime, thanks to the first career goal from freshman midfielder Sheree Gray.
Despite the overtime win Sunday, the fact remains that their toughest games are on the road. Knowing that, Penn State has to keep teams off balance, especially outside Jeffrey Field.
"We need to be able to take away the idea that we can't take parts of games off," Wilkins said Sunday.
Wilkins feels it may be on her to stimulate an energy increase.
"It's a lot of maturity stuff," Wilkins said. "Players have to be able to identify when they need to bear down and focus on the flow of the game."
"Maybe I need to make a change sooner to have that occur," Wilkins added. "Those are things we're going to look at in the videotape."
Travel, hostile atmospheres and sluggish starts do not bode well for a second consecutive undefeated conference season.
