Oct. 18, 2007
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University Park, Pa. - The Penn State field hockey teams begins to hit the stretch run of the 2007 season this weekend as the No. 9 Nittany Lions travel to Iowa for an important game with the No. 5 Hawkeyes on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. eastern time (3:00 p.m. central). The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network and it will be Penn State's second of three regular season games to be televised on the BTN this year.
Penn State (10-5, 2-2 Big Ten) is looking to bounce back from a tough 3-2 loss to No. 7 Michigan State last Sunday. In order to do that, the Nittany Lions will have to do so against an Iowa squad that has been ranked in the top 10 for most of the season. The Hawkeyes (12-2, 3-1 Big Ten) are currently tied for second in the Big Ten, one game ahead of the Nittany Lions. If Penn State is able to win on Saturday and then win its final game of the year against Ohio State next Friday, then the Nits will hold a tiebreaker over the Hawkeyes in the standings and will be at least the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
In addition to it being a pitoval match for the Big Ten standings, Saturday's game will also be a rematch of last year's championship game of the Big Ten Tournament, which was won by Iowa 2-1. Penn State split with the Hawkeyes last year, winning the regular season match 1-0. The Penn State-Iowa series has been very even as of late as Penn State leads 6-5 in the last 11 meetings, which date back to the start of the 2000 season. Overall, Iowa leads the all-time series by a slim 21-16-1 margin.
The Nittany Lions got some very good news earlier this week in their hope for an NCAA Tournament berth as Penn State was ranked fifth in the first field hockey RPI rankings of the year that were released on Tuesday. On the strength of its very tough schedule as well as some key wins over top competition, the Nittany Lions are the second-highest ranked team in the Big Ten in the RPI, behind only Michigan.
Following the game on Saturday, the Nittany Lions will wrap up the regular season next week, beginning with a road game at Bucknell on Tuesday. The will be followed by the regular season finale next Friday night when the Nittany Lions host Ohio State in a Code Blue game that will also be televised live on the Big Ten Network, which will be the first-ever game televised from AstroTurf Field.
The Big Ten Network is available nationally on satellite systems DirecTV (channel 220) and DISH Network (channel 439), as well as 140 cable systems, including WOW! and AT&T U-Verse.. The Big Ten Network is also available in the Centre Region on D&E Communications and in Eastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley on both RCN Cable and Service Electric.
To get the Big Ten Network, fans should call 1-866-WANT-B10 and record a message or be patched through to their cable operator and request that the network be a part of their expanded basic package. Comcast customers should call 1-215-665-1700 to request the Big Ten Network.