Penn State Sports Magazine
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N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1 51 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M MEN'S SOCCER On a blustery afternoon at Jeffrey Field, Indiana scored a fluke goal in the second half and held off Penn State, 1-0, on Oct. 17 in a battle between the top two teams in the Big Ten standings. Penn State had the wind at its back in the first half and was able to gen- erate five shots, but none got past Hoosiers goalkeeper Roman Celentano. The game's only goal came in the 75th minute on a cross into the box that glanced off the head of Penn State senior defender Brandon Hacken- berg into the goal. "It was terribly unlucky to concede a goal in that manner," PSU head coach Jeff Cook said. "That's part of the game sometimes. But you could see our resilience trying to get back in the game late." Heading into the last two weeks of the regular season, Penn State and In- diana were tied atop the Big Ten standings with 12 points apiece. The Nit- tany Lions were sporting an 8-5-1 overall record and a 4-1 mark in Big Ten play prior to their Oct. 22 visit to Ohio State and were looking to bounce back from the loss to the Hoosiers. "We would have loved to win the game," Cook said, "but this is a long season, and we'll fight right until the very end." WOMEN'S SOCCER Penn State's up-and-down fall campaign was trending back up again heading into the final week of the regular season. On Oct. 17, the Nittany Lions defeated 19th-ranked Purdue, 2-1, at Jef- frey Field. It was the final game of a three-game homestand, and the Lions won all three, with victories over Maryland (5-1, Oct. 8) and Indiana (3-0, Oct. 13) preceding the win against the Boilermakers. Redshirt junior forward Ally Schlegel provided the winning goal against Purdue, breaking a 1-1 tie in the 78th minute. It was her fourth winner of the season and the 11th of her career. With the victory, Penn State improved to 10-5 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions have now won 10 or more games in every season since the program's inception in 1994. WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL Penn State wasn't able to hold off Purdue on Oct. 17 at Rec Hall. The sixth-ranked Boil- ermakers captured the fourth set to even the match at two apiece, then won the decisive fifth set, 15-11. It's been a roller-coaster regular season for the Nittany Lions. They were 15th in the AVCA poll heading into their match with the Boilermakers but had struggled against ranked opponents, going 1-4, with their only victory coming in a sweep of then-No. 3 Ohio State on Sept. 26 at Rec Hall. With the second half of the Big Ten season still to come, there's plenty of time for Penn State to show that its performance against the Buckeyes was a true indication of its postseason potential. Senior outside hitter Adanna Rollins, who transferred from Minnesota in the offseason, came up big against Ohio State, totaling 14 kills on .524 hitting. In addition, the Nittany Lions have received strong performances from senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Hord, who tallied 20 kills against Purdue. But head coach Russ Rose has at times questioned his team's inten- sity, including after a four-set victory over Rutgers on Oct. 15. The Lions dropped the third set in that match, ending a 20-year streak of straight-set wins over the Scarlet Knights. "If it's not that important to you, you put up performances that are dis- appointing," Rose said afterward. Heading into their Oct. 22 match at Minnesota, the Lions were 13-5 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten. FIELD HOCKEY Penn State rose to No. 5 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Associa- tion poll after winning four of five, including a 2-1 decision over fourth- ranked Northwestern on Oct. 3. But the visiting Nittany Lions weren't able to hold off Princeton in their nonconference finale, falling to the 16th- ranked Tigers, 3-2 in overtime, on Oct. 17. Penn State rallied twice against Princeton, with senior defender Anna Simon scoring in the second quarter to erase a 1-0 Tigers lead, and junior midfielder Mackenzie Allessie drawing PSU even at 2-2 on an unassisted goal with just six seconds remaining in regulation play. The Nittany Lions began the overtime period with a shot by sophomore midfielder Sophia Gladieux, but it flew wide of the net, and Princeton ended the game with a goal less than a minute later. "We left a lot of goals in front of the cage today, and you cannot do that against a good team like Princeton," Penn State coach Char Morett-Curtiss said. "This was a missed opportunity for us." The Nittany Lions earned their victory over visiting Northwestern when Gladieux scored in double overtime. Heading into an Oct. 22 match at Ohio State, Penn State held a 10-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in Big Ten play. CROSS COUNTRY Hosting the Penn State National Open on Oct. 15, the Nittany Lion men finished second behind Cornell, while the women came in fourth. Junior Evan Dorenkamp won the 5.2-mile men's race, finishing in 25:26.9. Senior Bran- don Hontz was fifth in 25:44.7, and three other Nittany Lions placed in the top 30. On the women's side, sophomore Sophia Toti was Penn State's top finisher, coming in 16th in the 3.7-mile race with a time of 21:28.5. The event took place at the Blue and White Golf Courses, which will also play host to the Big Ten Championships on Oct. 29. Head coach John Gondak said he was pleased with Penn State's performance in its final race before Big Tens, especially considering the unseasonably warm weather, with tempera- tures climbing into the low 80s that day. "The conditions were quite challeng- ing with the high humidity and the heat, which was highly unusual for the middle of October," Gondak said. "But I thought our teams handled it well. The women executed the race plan. They maybe had a few small struggles at the end of the race that we'll work on to be better when we host Big Tens in two weeks." — Matt Herb O L Y M P I C S P O R T S R O U N D U P Women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said he has been disappointed with the Nittany Lions' uneven play this season. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS