Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1486024
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 2 51 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M E D I T O R I A L MATT HERB MATT.HERB@ON3.COM P enn State's field hockey team led the Big Ten in attendance this fall, attracting an average of 616 fans for its seven home games. That was 211 more per game than Maryland, the team with which PSU shared the league's regular-season title, and 372 more than Northwestern, which, along with the Nittany Lions and Terrapins, reached this year's NCAA Tournament semifinals. Leading the league in attendance might not seem like a surprising ac- complishment for a school located in a field hockey hotbed, but consider this: The Nittany Lions didn't really have a home field. They had a place to play, of course, but the rest of the Penn State Field Hockey Complex was under construction. PSU is in the midst of a $12.8 million renovation project that isn't expected to be completed until next year. And yet, the fans continued to show up. "Not having stands did not impact our fan base one bit," longtime coach Char Morett-Curtiss said. "We led the Big Ten without stands. People were coming to the game and either bringing their chair or standing and watching from obstructed-view seats. "Reminds me of when I would go to the [Philadelphia] Flyers games grow- ing up and could only afford the $4 seats behind a pole. You could see the heads moving, and when we would score, you could just feel the energy from the fans." Morett-Curtiss' field hockey team is part of a contingent of programs that have made Penn State a dynamo in the fall sports. For decades, the Nittany Lions have been nationally competitive on a consistent basis in women's vol- leyball, women's soccer, field hockey and football. Since 1980, those four teams have combined to win 12 na- tional championships. In addition, of the 91 Big Ten regular-season championships that Penn State has won since beginning league competition during the 1992-93 academic year, 57 have been in the fall sports. Of the 31 Big Ten Tournaments that PSU has won, 19 have come in the fall sports, the most recent being the women's soccer team's triumph last month at Ohio State, a tourney it en- tered as the sixth seed. It makes sense that the fall would be Penn State's best athletic season. As a Northeastern school, it's at an obvious geographic disadvantage in the spring sports — sports for which the ability to practice and play outdoors for much of the year makes an incalculable difference. Even in the indoor winter sports, Penn State's location has in some instances been an impediment. The men's basketball program, in particu- lar, has struggled to boost its atten- dance given the challenges of luring fans from the state's faraway popula- tion centers for midweek games during the coldest, snowiest months of the year. The fall sports teams don't face quite so many challenges related to climate or geography. The autumn weather in central Pennsylvania is often idyllic, and the drive to State College amid the colorful foliage is a treat in itself. What's more, the fall teams have been able to capitalize on the influx of visitors for football weekends, with many fans arriving early on Friday to take in a women's volleyball match at Rec Hall or staying late on Sunday to watch one of the soccer teams take the pitch at Jeffrey Field. New athletics director Patrick Kraft has talked about wanting to make Penn State successful in all of the sports in which it completes. "We are 31 strong," he said at his in- troductory news conference in April, "and we are committed to winning na- tional championships and conference championships in 31 sports." That's a tall order; even the nation's most well-supported athletics depart- ments are mediocre at something. But Morett-Curtiss said she's been im- pressed with Kraft's determination to follow through on his pledge. "We as coaches talk about that," she said. "We believe it, and we're very, very grateful. We appreciate that, and our players appreciate it." The construction work at the Field Hockey Complex is a tangible sign of the Penn State community's commit- ment to its Olympic sports programs, and not just because of the financial investment it represents. Morett-Curtiss said that the work itself helped lift her team's spirits this year, noting that the builders and tradesmen were among the Nittany Lions' biggest supporters, cheering on players during practice as they went about their work. In the not-too-distant future, the fruits of those efforts will be on full display. "It's been exciting to see the stadium project take shape," Morett-Curtiss said. "We'll look forward to it next year." ■ New athletics director Patrick Kraft has said he is "com- mitted to winning national championships and confer- ence championships in 31 sports." PHOTO BY GREG PICKEL Fall Has Been Penn State's Time To Shine VARSITY VIEWS