Feb. 26, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 14 Penn State women's lacrosse team (2-1) will play cap off the first month of play of 2010 this weekend when it takes on Colgate (1-1) indoors at Holuba Hall. The Nittany Lions will meet the Raiders on Sun., Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.
Penn State's game with Vermont, originally scheduled for Fri., Feb. 26 and then moved to Sat., Feb. 27, has been cancelled due to the winter weather disrupting the Catamounts' travel plans. A possible make-up date for the non-conference clash has yet to be determined.
Penn State will be looking to rebound from its first loss of the season, a 17-9 setback suffered at the hands of No. 2 Maryland last weekend in Holuba Hall. Senior midfielder Theresa Bucci (Hudson, Ohio) scored a career-high four goals and freshman attacker Molly Fernandez (Baltimore, Md.) notched her second straight hat trick to lead Penn State. In recognition of their standout performances in a 15-2 rout of Bucknell earlier in the week and against the Terrapins, Bucci earned ALC Offensive Player of the Week honors, in addition to womenslacrosse.com honor roll mention, while Fernandez was named ALC Rookie of the Week.
Primarily based on its season opening upset victory over then-No. 14 Loyola on Feb. 14, Penn State was elevated four spots in the latest (Feb. 22) IWLCA/Under Armour Division I Coaches' Poll to the No. 14 position. The move up in the rankings represented the largest of any team in the nation.
Colgate enters Sunday's contest after starting the 2010 season with narrow 10-9 win over Stony Brook (Feb. 13) and, most recently, a 17-5 thrashing by No. 6 Syracuse (Feb. 19). The defending Patriot League champions' and 2010 conference favorites' squad consists of 13 returning letterwinners including three first team all-league performers from a year ago in senior Meghan Lawler, junior Colleen Bubnack, and sophomore Courtney Miller. The trio accounted for 108 goals or 42 percent of the goals scored and 170 points, or 45 percent of the total points, and have notched 15 of the Raiders' 21 points thus far in 2010.
Penn State owns a perfect 9-0 record in its series history with Colgate. In the teams' last four meetings, all won by the Nittany Lions, the PSU has outscored the Raiders, 64-16. A year ago, Laura Lesnick (Jarrettsville, Md.) scored a career-high four goals on 100 percent shooting while Kerry Shea and Maria Valderas (Catonsville, Md.) added three and two scores, respectively, and Erica Mihm (Annapolis, Md.) tallied three assists, in a commanding 16-6 PSU victory. Penn State is 58-2 all-time in games versus Patriot League opponents.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State women's lacrosse action this weekend with live stats and instant scoring updates from Gametracker. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions will wrap up their four-game homestand next weekend when ACC power No. 13 Virginia visits Happy Valley for a 1 p.m. match-up on Sun., March 7. The Cavaliers began the season with a surprising 15-11 home loss to Loyola and will face Richmond, No. 6 Syracuse, and No. 2 Maryland before meeting Penn State. The Lions hold a 4-16 all-time record versus Virginia, losing four straight in the series, including last season's 12-11 overtime heartbreaker in Charlottesville.