June 22, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four Penn State field hockey players are in the midst of competition at the U.S. Field Hockey High Performance National Championship that began on Saturday in Virginia Beach, Va. Redshirt freshman Hannah Allison and sophomore Jessica Longstreth along with recently graduated All-Americans Jen Long and Allison Scola are all teaming up for the PA/CA region squad which features some of the nation's best players from Pennsylvania and California. The six team round robin tournament began on Saturday, June 20 and leads up to the medal games on June 27.
Scola already scored a goal in the team's second game, a 2-2 tie against the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday. The PA/CA squad is set for games on Tuesday (against the South at 6 p.m.), Wednesday (versus the Midwest at 4 p.m.), and Friday (against New England at 12 p.m.) before Saturday, which features the medal games.
Long and Scola finished their illustrious careers in 2008 by being named All-Americans once again, the third consecutive (and second straight first-team selection) for Long and second straight for Scola. Scola led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 27 points (7g, 13a) while Long anchored the Big Ten's best defense to lead Penn State to a Big Ten Regular Season Title. The duo made the NCAA Tournament in all four of their seasons, including a National Championship Game appearance in 2007 to go along with the Big Ten Championship their senior year.
Longstreth finished her rookie campaign third on the team in points (17 pts: 7g, 3a) to earn her Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. The forward returns as the team's second leading scorer behind junior Daneen Zug, who racked up 23 points (10g, 3a).
Allison redshirted in 20008 as a midfielder/forward and looks to carry the tremendous success she enjoyed in high school to the collegiate game. She was a first team league All-Star her senior season, finishing with 20 goals and 19 assists in leading Mifflinburg to a state championship.
Be sure to follow all the action through the U.S. Field Hockey website and the High Performance Twitter Page.
Here is the description of the event courtesy of the USA Field Hockey Website:
Held in conjunction with the National Futures Championship, the USA Field Hockey Women's National Championship is a round-robin tournament featuring the top athletes from USA Field Hockey's six regional High Performance Centers.
Beginning in the early spring, High Performance Centers serving the New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Midwest, South and California regions conduct open trials for college-age and older athletes. Once selected to a High Performance Center, athletes receive elite-level training from some of the nation's top coaches over the course of the spring.
At the conclusion of the program, each High Performance Center selects a team to represent its region at the National Championships. Athletes competing in the tournament have the opportunity for selection to the U.S. National Squad. The Pennsylvania / California HPC is the defending champion after defeating the Midwest in last year's championship final.
Rosters at the Championship include current U.S. National Team stars as well as recent college All-America selections.