Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1480138
O C T O B E R 2 0 2 2 4 9 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M OLYMPIC SPORTS T here was a time earlier in her Penn State field hockey career when goalkeeper Brie Barraco might have been bothered if her pregame warmup routine didn't go exactly the way she wanted. A bad warmup was all it would take sometimes to trigger feelings of doubt, and suddenly she would find her confi- dence waning and her nerves jangling. Now, though, Barraco isn't fazed by minor irritations. Even when her pre- game routine is less than perfect, she's able to quickly refocus on the task at hand. Barraco's mental toughness, which she honed by working with Adrianna Napoletano, Penn State's director of performance psychology services, was on display when the Nittany Lions hosted Louisville in the second game of the season. "I didn't have the best warmup, but I went to the bench, closed my eyes and said my key four words that I say to my- self," the senior from Allentown, Pa., recently told GoPSUSports.com. "I tell myself that I'm confident, strong, quick and poised. That's the type of goalkeeper I want to be in the game, and it worked out, because I didn't come out flat in the game." Barraco had 5 saves against the Car- dinals, and while the Nittany Lions weren't able to generate enough of- fense to stave off a 2-1 loss, their de- fensive prowess has been a key asset in the team's steady climb up the national rankings throughout the first half of the regular season. Heading into a Sept. 30 visit to de- fending national champion Northwest- ern, the Lions had posted three con- secutive shutout wins. They were 8-1 on the season, ranked No. 6 in the Division I coaches poll and were holding oppo- nents to an average of just 1.11 goals per game. Only two Big Ten teams — Iowa (.75) and Northwestern (1.00) were al- lowing fewer goals on average. Barraco, meanwhile, was third in the conference with a .756 save percentage. In Penn State's first homestand of the Big Ten season, she and her teammates came up with back-to-back shutouts. The Nittany Lions blanked Michigan State 4-0 on Sept. 23 and stifled Ohio State 2-0 two days later. As gratifying as those victories were, the game that perhaps best illustrated Through Penn State's first nine games, Barraco was ranked third in the Big Ten with a .756 save percentage. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS Zero-Sum Games Veteran goalkeeper Brie Barraco stifles opponents to help fuel a strong start by the Nittany Lion field hockey team MATT HERB | MATT.HERB@ON3.COM