Aug. 27, 2007
University Park, Pa. - Following a 2-0 opening weekend that featured wins against a pair of top 10 teams, the Penn State field hockey team swept the Big Ten Weekly Awards that were given out on Monday as Kiersten Wood was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Laura Cahill was named the Defensive Player of the Week. It marks the first time since early in the 2005 season that the field hockey team has won both the offensive and defensive player of the week award from the Big Ten in the same week.
Ironically, the last time it happened, it was Laura Cahill's older sister, Sara Cahill that was the defensive player of the week recipient while Natalie Berrena was the offensive player of the week on September 19 of the 2005 season.
The younger Cahill as well as Wood were both played particularly strong in a strong team effort that produced wins for the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions over No. 6 Old Dominion and No. 8 Virginia, both by 3-1 scores. Wood recorded a total of five points in the two contests off two goals and one assist. Against Old Dominion in a game played in sweltering temperatures in Norfolk, Va., Wood assisted on Shaun Banta's goal that put the Nittany Lions up 2-0 in the first half on a nifty and well-placed pass on a breakaway opportunity. Then, at Virginia on Sunday, Wood scored the first two Penn State goals, including the game-winner to help the Lions overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit with three unanswered second half goals to knock off the Cavaliers and improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2003. The Lititz, Pa. native and two-time All-American leads the team with five points after two games.
Kiersten Wood was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. |
Cahill, a sophomore back out of Virginia Beach, Va., played a key role on the defense that allowed only two goals over the two games. Cahill, who was also a part of last year's defense that finished tops in the Big Ten and fifth in the country in goals against average last season, helped the defense limit the opposing teams to just 15 shots over the two games as the Nittany Lions outshot their opponents in both games. Playing in her home state for the weekend and near her hometown in Norfolk on Saturday, her strong play and tackles in both games broke up several potential scoring opportunities for the opponents.
The Nittany Lions will continue their tough early-season schedule by hosting No. 5 Connecticut in their home opener next Sunday, September 2 at noon on AstroTurf Field.