As practice was winding down yesterday, the No. 18 Penn State women's lacrosse team (5-6) was working in three separate groups but focusing on one key element: shooting.
The Nittany Lions were rotating between drills that dealt with rolling on the crease and shooting well on goal, converting free position shots and 3-on-2 fast breaks to the goal. Designed to help the offense, these drills also benefited the defense in protecting the goal and stopping shots.
The Lions hope their success in these drills will lead to success during a game, as they travel to Delaware (3-9) to take on the Blue Hens at 7 tonight in Rullo Stadium.
"We've been focusing a lot on team defense, and we've been focusing on our attack and getting shots on goal," junior Renee Cipro said.
Possession and shots on goal were Penn State's downfall when it played No. 16 Penn last Wednesday. It only had four draw controls the entire game and took only 14 shots, a number the team needs to bump up if it wants to win.
"We just have to be focused to dominate possession. We have to be smarter with the ball and maintain possession and shoot at the end of these possessions," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said. "That's what we've worked on, and hopefully that will pay off in the game."
The Lions will again be without freshman Kerry Shea. It was confirmed yesterday that Shea has a stress fracture in her femur and will be out for the rest of the season. Isidor said it flared up after the Temple game on March 21.
To compensate for the loss of one of its most important two-way players, Penn State has been playing some of its youth. Sophomore Lindsay Hagemann has stepped into Shea's position, freshman Megan McGuire will also be starting in the midfield and fellow freshman Mariel Bryan will be seeing more playing time.
For both teams, the game is a must-win. The Lions are coming off a tough loss to Penn, and the Blue Hens are on a six-game losing streak, after dropping a close game to Drexel on Sunday.
Despite having a 5-6 record, the Lions can still salvage their season, win the American Lacrosse Conference and make it to the NCAA Championships. With a win today, they will move to .500, but a loss will put them two games below even and make it a lot harder to finish at the top of their division. The last four games of the season will be crucial since they are all against conference foes and will make or break the Lions' chances to play into May.
"It is a must-win," Cipro said. "It is a 'get back on track and start the second half of the season [win],' since we are going into a lot of conference games."
