Aug. 27, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Field hockey's Kiersten Wood (Lititz, Pa.) has been named this year's first Penn State female student-athlete of the week after back-to-back pivotal performances against a pair of Top 10 teams over the weekend. Penn State's men's teams were idle from "official" competition that would count towards the teams' NCAA futures, so no male athlete of the week was chosen. Next week, both honors will be awarded again.
Wood, a 2006 first team All-American, played an intregal role in No. 7 Penn State's pair of road wins over top 10 teams over the weekend. At No. 6 Old Dominion on Saturday, the midfielder recorded two shots and an assist off a brilliantly well-placed pass to Shaun Banta on the eventual game-winning goal to help the Nittany Lions win their season opener for the first time since 2003 in 90-degree heat and humidity of Norfolk, Va., 3-1 over ODU.
Then, on Sunday, she scored Penn State's first two goals of the game, helping the Lions overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit and score three unanswered second-half goals for another 3-1 win, this one over No. 8 Virginia. Her first goal tied the game and her second was the game-winner. After two games, she leads the 2-0 Nittany Lions with five points and co-leads the Lions with two goals.