From the beginning of the season, the Penn State field hockey team has had one game on its mind: a rematch of last year's NCAA championship.
That game has finally come, as the No. 11 Nittany Lions (2-2) will play No. 3 North Carolina (2-2) 2:30 p.m. Saturday in West Chester, Pa. It will be the first
time the teams have faced each other since last year's championship.
"It's a big game for us," junior defender Jen Miller said. "It has a lot more meaning to us because of what happened last year. We are so psyched to play them."
Last season, the Lions fell short of the Tar Heels, 3-0, in the title game. Since then, Penn State has been working hard on and off the field to prove it can get back to that level of play, Miller said.
She said the team is "fired up" and is going into this game with a vengeance to prove it can win.
"They are going to be coming out for us, and we need to have the drive to get back at them," junior midfielder Amy Bonenberger said. "We just have to dig down deep and find it in us to come out strong."
The team expects to see some good competition tomorrow, and they have been working in practice to counter North Carolina's aggressive offense. Senior fullback Jen Long said the Penn State defense can't give up as many penalty corners because that is how the Tar Heels scored the majority of their goals in last year's championship.
Bonenberger said the team needs to focus on its man-on-man coverage. She said North Carolina does a lot of interchanging and cutting on offense, so it is crucial the Lions stay with their players and call to their teammates for help if they need it.
"This is a huge game for us," Long said. "We need to hang high and just approach it like we would any other game. We just need to focus on the goals we set for ourselves coming into the game."
Long said the team needs to be aggressive on offense by attacking and driving the ball downfield the entire game.
Several players said the team needs to work on its passing game by making sure it has clean and sharp transitions from player to player. Junior midfielder Cindy Donald said North Carolina is a strong team from top to bottom, so the Lions need to be solid in every aspect of the game.
"Last year we made it so far and worked so hard," Bonenberger said. "To have a chance to play [North Carolina] again is great. We want to come out and show them that we can do it again this year."
