Aug. 27, 2010
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind a facility-record 13 saves from sophomore Ayla Halus (Hershey, Pa.) and an efficient offensive attack, the No. 18 Penn State field hockey team topped No. 16 Old Dominion, 4-0 at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex on Friday.
"It's great to first of all win at home," said head coach Charlene Morett, who moved within three of her 400th career victory. "We struggled last year to get some wins, so it's nice to start the season [on the right foot].
"I respect [Old Dominion] so much," she continued. "They're a very strong team. They can pass and move the ball. I just think our kids did a really good job of stepping up defensively."
Morett was facing her former mentor, Beth Anders, who is the NCAA All-Time winningest coach with 563 career victories. Morett stands fourth with 397.
Sophomore Kelsey Amy (Sweet Valley, Pa.) led the scoring attack with a pair of goals to tie a career-high while sophomore Hannah Allison (Mifflinburg, Pa.) and senior Daneen Zug (Manheim, Pa.) each added single tallies. Halus wasn't the only Lion player to break a facility record; junior Jessica Longstreth (Richboro, Pa.) racked up a career-high three assists to tie for the most ever at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
"It's really important [to get the first win]," said Amy. "Everything starts off well. It gives us a confidence boost going into Sunday."
The win tied for Penn State's largest-ever margin of victory over Old Dominion, the winningest program in NCAA field hockey history.
The Monarchs came out with a bang, recording 11 first-half shots with 10 on cage. It was Halus who kept the Nittany Lions in the game early with one huge save after another. Penn State took advantage when Allison found the back of the cage at 8:22 for a 1-0 lead. Her low shot off a penalty corner beat goalkeeper Marla Petriello cleanly for the early lead.
Old Dominion continued the relentless attack after the goal with nine shots on cage in the span of 10:44, but Halus came up big every time. She made spectacular saves in succession on two separate occasions, not only stopping the initial shot, but finding a way to deny the rebound attempt.
The Nittany Lions doubled their lead, making it 2-0 at 26:14 off another penalty corner. This time it was Amy, who rocketed a direct shot to the far side of the cage.
"[Scoring two goals is] really exciting, especially since I struggled to put the ball in the cage at the beginning of last year," said Amy. "It's really a weight off my chest to get that first goal."
Penn State bounced back in the second half to control play, outshooting the Monarchs 9-4 while scoring two more insurance tallies. The first came from Zug, who cleaned up Allison's initial shot for a rebound goal at 63:31.
The Nittany Lions were awarded a corner attempt when time expired in regulation, so they played it out and Amy capitalized with her second goal of the game for the 4-0 final.
Finals shots were even at 15 while Penn State had more penalty corners, 11-9. Halus finished with 13 saves while Petriello made four.
"My defense was talking to each other," said Halus. "I was talking to them. They were responding. All that communication on the field throughout the whole 70 minutes of the game made my job easier because all I had to do was watch the ball and save it when I needed to."
"It feels good because our team had a great win," continued Halus. "We scored four goals [which was] something we struggled with in our first game last year. We came up big today and did well for two halves, not just 15 minutes. It feels good."
The squad is back in action on Sunday at 12 p.m. vs. No. 3 Virginia at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
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