Nov. 1, 2007
Columbus, Ohio - Jen Long was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Long was joined on the All-Big Ten first team by teammate Kiersten Wood while fellow teammates Shaun Banta and Allison Scola were named second team All-Big Ten on Thursday evening as the Big Ten announced its postseason field hockey awards at a banquet in conjunction with this weekend's Big Ten Tournament.
Long, a junior back, becomes the seventh player in Penn State history to garner the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award, but the first since 2001. The seven all-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year awards is the most of any school in the Big Ten since Penn State joined the conference in 1992 and is three more than the next two schools. Long has helped the Nittany Lion defense record a goals against average of 1.18 this year through Thursday's Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game, which is ranked in the top 15 in the country. The Doylestown, Pa. native has started every game in her first three years at Penn State and this year had headed up the defense that has also recorded seven shutouts, which is tied for the most in the Big Ten this year. Her outstanding stick work and athleticism have allowed her to dominate in the backfield for much of her career, especially this year.
One of three different players to be named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week this year, Long has also been named to the womensfieldhockey.com weekly honor roll twice this year. In addition to her defensive abilities, Long has also recorded a career high in goals, assists and points this year. With 10 assists this year, she became the first Penn State player since 2003 to have 10 or more assists in a season. She entered this week ranked second in the Big Ten in assists and 20th in the country in assists per game. She also scored her first career goal earlier this year against Bucknell. Long joins Becca Main (1993), Jill Pearsall (1994), Heather Gorlaski (1997) Traci Anselmo (1998 and 2000) and Jill Martz (2001) as Nittany Lions that won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. This is the first All-Big Ten first team selection for Long, who was a second team selection last year.
Kiersten Wood was named to the All-Big Ten first team for the third time in her career. |
Joining Long on the All-Big Ten first team is senior midfielder Kiersten Wood, who adds the honor to her lengthy list of career awards. Wood is now a three-time first team All-Big Ten selection as she was a first-teamer both as a sophomore and a junior and she is also a former Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She is also a two-time All-American and a two-time All-Mideast Region pick. This year, Wood has scored six goals and recorded five assists for 17 points, which currently rank fourth on the team. She was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week the first week of this season and two of her goals have been game-winning goals. Wood has started all but two games in her four-year career.
The selections of Long and Wood to the All-Big Ten first team give Penn State a total of 50 all-time first team All-Big Ten selections, which is by far the most of any conference team since Penn State entered the Big Ten in 1992, eight more than second-place Iowa.
Making the second team was senior forward Shaun Banta. One of two fifth-year seniors on the team, Banta was a first team All-Big Ten pick last year after leading the Big Ten in goals scored and she is also a two-time second team All-Mideast Region selection. This year, Banta has taken more a distribution role as she has six goals and a career high six assists. She is tied for second on the team in points with 18 and is third on the team with her six assists. She is Penn State's active career leader in both points and goals and needs 14 more points to move into the Penn State top 10 all-time list for points and also needs just three more goals to move into the top 10 all-time for goals at Penn State.
Allison Scola was named to the All-Big Ten second team for the first time in her career. |
Also being selected to the second team was junior Allison Scola. A native of Hummelstown, Pa., Scola, along with Long, are both two-year members of the U.S. Under-21 National Team. For the Nittany Lions this year, Scola has recorded three goals and eight assists, equaling her career high for assists in a season from last year. She is second on the team in assists and fifth in points with 14. She has started every game of her career up to this point and has played in all but one game. Currently, she has started 59 consecutive games for the Nittany Lions. This year, she has scored her three goals, including one game-winning tally, on just four shots on goal. This is the first All-Big Ten honor of her career for Scola.
Additionally, senior Mallory Weisen was the Penn State recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Shaun Banta is now a two-time All-Big Ten selection. |
The fourth-seeded Nittany Lions, who defeated host Ohio State 3-0 in today's quarterfinal match in the Big Ten Tournament, will take on top-seeded Michigan on Friday at noon in the semifinals. That match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.