Blue White Illustrated

October 2021

Penn State Sports Magazine

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1410640

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 49 of 67

5 0 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M BY MATT HERB M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M W hen the U.S. women's soccer team opened the Summer Olym- pics by losing handily to Sweden, 3-0, the result was surprising and disappointing for the pe- rennially powerful Americans. But even surprising and disappointing results some- times have an upside. For Penn State women's soccer coach Erica Dambach, who was on the sideline for that loss as a member of Team USA's staff, the positive was seeing how some of the best players in the world respond when things don't go their way. "One of the best parts of that experience is that it was a challenge for that U.S. team," Dambach told GoPSU.com. "So often, that team goes into these events and has wild success. It's such a successful group. "But because there was ad- versity, because we did lose to Sweden in that opening game, I got a chance to work with professional coaches and players in how to deal with adversity, how to come back and react and get on the front foot and battle some of those challenges. "That obviously is a reality for all teams, but to be in the weeds with a professional team, the best team in the world, was an invaluable experience for me." Team USA rebounded from its loss to the Swedes by trouncing New Zealand, 6-1, and went on to earn a spot in the semifinal round. That's where its mo- mentum fizzled out. One of Dambach's former players, goalie Alyssa Naeher, suffered a knee injury and had to come out of the semi- final game, and Team USA fell to the Canadians, 1-0. Called upon once again to display re- silience, the U.S. squad did just that, outlasting Australia, 4-3, to claim the bronze medal. In the end, the Americans' showing in Tokyo was a reminder that even pro- hibitive favorites can't take anything for granted and that resilience is going to be required sometimes. Those are lessons that Dambach's other team would do well to bear in mind as it makes its way through its second season of the 2021 calendar year. In August, Penn State was named the favorite to claim the Big Ten cham- pionship in a vote of the league's coaches. The Nittany Lions' appear- ance atop the preseason poll was by no means surprising. They have won 20 Big Ten regular-season titles, including 11 league crowns in Dambach's 15 seasons as head coach. They've been anointed the preseason favorites every year since 2003. This year's team has even more reason than most to feel hopeful about what the future holds. The Nittany Lions return 10 of 11 starters from a squad that went 12-3-1 last season and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament. Penn State opened the uni- versity's athletic year with a 3-1 victory over Massachusetts on Aug. 19. The Minutewomen led briefly, but Penn State re- sponded early in the second half with goals by senior mid- fielder Sam Coffey and junior forwards Ally Schlegel and Payton Linnehan. Schlegel, last season's Big Ten Forward of the Year, netted the winning goal for the eighth time in her Nittany Lion career. One of Penn State's biggest assets this year is that it doesn't have to rely on any single player for offense. The next time the Nittany Lions stepped onto the pitch, Linnehan was the one who shined, scoring three goals in a 4-0 romp over La Salle. In a 2-1 win over Hofstra, Linnehan and Schlegel teamed up to provide the scoring, and in an eye-opening 4-2 road win over No. 3 Virginia, Coffey, Linne- han and Schlegel all scored. HIGHER EDUCATION Penn State looks to reap the benefits of coach Erica Dambach's international soccer experience OLYMPIC SPORTS Defender Kerry Abello decided to come back for her senior season despite having been selected by the Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League in January. PHOTO BY DAVID WILCOMES/MGOBLOG

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue White Illustrated - October 2021