Sept. 18, 2010
Philadelphia, Pa. - With a 4-0 dominating effort over Temple, Penn State field hockey head coach Charlene Morett claimed her 400th win, marking one of the biggest milestones attainable in the coaching world. The shutout in Philadelphia came from team collaboration and ended in a celebration of the program's great achievements.
Morett's 400th categorizes her among the elite, becoming only the fourth (ninth overall) Division I coach in NCAA history to obtain the landmark. Morett's coaching record sits at 400-161-17, including her three years as coach of the Boston College Eagles.
> To me it is something I am very proud of, of course," said head coach Charlene Morett. "I think that it speaks volumes of the players that I have had the opportunity to coach and the coaching staff that has always supported me. I feel very grateful to be able to share this moment with the Penn State Field Hockey family. The most important thing, more than it is my 400th win, is that it is a win for the 2010 field hockey team. Hopefully we will continue to play like this tomorrow and for the games coming up. I hope that these last few wins can create momentum for us and give us the opportunity to do great things as a team."
Penn State came out on fire in the first minutes of the game, marking two goals in the first 11 minutes of play. The Nittany Lion's premier goal came off a self-rebounded shot from the stick of Whitney Reddig. Reddig's conversion was her first of her collegiate career. The goal fired up the Penn State offense as they continued to dominate throughout the initial 35-minutes of play. To solidify that the Lions were here to play, Lauren Pervis netted her second goal of the season with 24 minutes remaining in the period. The freshman captured the goal off of a quick-pass from junior midfielder Jessica Longstreth.
"Whitney's goal, our first goal was just sheer effort," said Morett. "It was great to see her out there and great to see her in the scoring column. Then right after, Jess [Longstreth] had a great ball to [Lauren] Pervis and Pervis shot it and scored. It was great ball play by both those girls."
The Lions entered the locker room up by two and re-appeared on the field hungry for more. Spreading the wealth with all four goals coming off sticks of different Lions, Penn State finished the game 4-0, their fourth shutout of the season. Tested throughout the game, Penn State's defense, backed by redshirt sophomore Ayla Halus denied Temple on all opportunities. Halus recorded three saves, 49 on the season.
Penn State's Student-Athlete of the Week, Brittany Grzywacz, tallied her second goal of the season with 5:23 remaining in the game. Grzywacz's goal came off of Longstreth's corner assisted by Kristen Schaefer. With 34 seconds remaining redshirt sophomore Kelsey Amy had a breakaway opportunity that she capitalized on, posting her fifth goal of the season, good for a team high.
"Brittany did a great job off of the corner, just playing her position on the post side," said Morett. "In the remaining seconds of the game, Kelsey had a breakaway opportunity, had great ball handling through a few defenders and executed successfully."
The Nittany Lions look to continue their three-game winning streak at West Chester, Sunday, Sept. 19 at noon. Live stats are available at http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-fieldh/sched/psu-w-fieldh-sched.html.