Blue White Illustrated

and now it's time to get ready for the best competition on the biggest stage." One former Penn State athlete who's accustomed to big international stages is goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher of the U.S. women's soccer team. A two-time first- team All-American while with the Nit- tany Lions from 2006-09, Naeher has been a part of two World Cup champi- onship teams. She's the top U.S. goal- keeper and will be looking to help the Americans become the first team to win the Women's World Cup and Olympic gold medal back-to-back. "Watching Alyssa grow into the world- class goalkeeper she is now has been in- credibly fulfilling and enriching as a coach," Penn State's Erica Dambach said. "Alyssa obviously is a big talent, and she is extremely hardwork- ing, but most impor- tantly, she's a really good teammate." Another Penn State women's soccer alumna, Erin McLeod, will be an alternate for the Canadian Na- tional Team. A two-time All-American with the Nittany Lions, McLeod was the starting goalkeeper for Team Canada when it won the bronze medal in the 2012 London Games, and she was back in the starting lineup in 2016. The Lions will also have a fencing alum and a swimmer in Tokyo. Two-time NCAA champion Andrew Mackiewicz made the U.S. men's fencing team in May. The Westwood, Mass., na- tive will compete in the saber alongside has to find ways of coping with cir- cumstances that are largely beyond their control. "I think you get what you get," he said. "The players have to understand that life is full of challenges. This was a great challenge, and there were a lot of opportunities. But it was the same for everybody. I just think it was a pretty good opportunity to learn a lot of things about themselves and about life. We were fortunate that Penn State did so many of the things necessary to give everybody an opportunity to play and to compete at the best level. So many of our teams were able to have successful years. It's a reflection of what every- body is trying to achieve." Sanderson led his team to a second- place finish at nationals. The Nittany Lions weren't able to overcome Iowa for the team title, but they had a spec- tacular finish, crowning four individ- ual NCAA champions. Sanderson said the team's performance was a testa- ment to the athletes' mental tough- ness. "Our kids are resilient and they can adapt and figure things out and work hard and still attack their goals, regard- less of what's thrown at them," he said. "It was a challenge, as everyone has said. The different demands – getting up every morning to get tested – were a challenge for a lot of our kids. But I think it clarifies what you really want. Adver- sity brings clarity, I would say. They had to suck it up and figure out how to get things done. It taught them that regard- less of the circumstances, you can still attack your goals. I think that will be valuable to them in the future." While considerable progress has been made in the battle against COVID, the challenges will continue. Another cara- van participant, men's soccer coach Jeff Cook, noted that the turnaround heading into the 2021 season will be short for the fall sports teams that had their seasons delayed. Last August, Cook's squad learned three hours before its first practice that the season had been called off. The Nittany Lions did ultimately get to play in the spring, reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament and finishing with the No. 11 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll, but now they're in the midst of an unusually short off- season. "Typically, we have training in the spring and exhibition games," Cook ex- plained, "but [soon] we'll be back starting practices and getting ready for a full season in 2021, which will include nonconference games and another ex- citing and challenging Big Ten season. We hope to be right there competing for Big Ten and NCAA championships. We've challenged our team and our staff. I think we can take a lot of satis- faction and pride in what we've done, but we know that here at Penn State, everything is possible, and there's an- other level we can get to." ■ CROWD PLEASER Taylor is saluted by fans during a PSU football game. The two-time NCAA champ is competing in the Olympics for the first time. Photo by Steve Manuel

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