Aug. 8, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State field hockey team officially began the 2012 preseason on Wednesday at the Field Hockey Complex in State College. After reporting for team meetings on Tuesday, the squad took to the field this morning for a series of sprinting tests and their first practice as the defending Big Ten Champions.
Last season, the Nittany Lions won their first Big Ten Tournament Championship since 1998 after going 17-6 overall in the regular season. The field hockey program boasts a successful history since joining the Big Ten in 1992, winning back-to-back tournaments in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Penn State also earned Big Ten titles in 1993, 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2008 for their regular season records.
Head coach Charlene Morett looks to improve on the impressive 2011 season, after graduating only four players. Penn States returns all top eight scorers, including Kelsey Amy (Sweet Valley, Pa.), Whitney Reddig (Lititz, Pa.), Taylor Herold (Fredericksburg, Va.), Laura Gebhart (Mount Joy, Pa.), Brittany Grzywacz (Collegeville, Pa.), Hannah Allison (Mifflinburg, Pa.), Ashtin Klingler (Selinsgrove, Pa.) and Lauren Purvis (Maple Glen, Pa.). Also returning is starting goalkeeper Ayla Halus (Hershey, Pa.), who played in all 23 games last season for a .742 save percentage and four shutouts.
Amy, the Big Ten Tournament MVP, posted 25 goals and seven assists and was a CoSIDA District II Academic All-American, as well as an NFHCA First Team All-American. The senior was also a Capitol One At Large Third Team Academic All-American, named to the NFHCA All-Mideast Region First Team and earned First Team All-Big Ten on top of being a Big Ten All-Academic.
Second in point scoring for the Lions, Reddig tallied four goals and 20 assists and was named a Big Ten All-Academic selection, while Herold (10 goals, four assists) was named to the NFHCA National Academic Squad. Amy, Halus and Purvis were named to the National Academic Squad, as well. After recording six goals and 12 assists in her rookie season, Gebhart was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten, NFHCA First Team All-Mideast Region and a Third Team NFHCA All-American.
Tallying eight goals and three assists, Grzywacz was named Second Team All-Big Ten and a Big Ten All-Academic, as well as NFHCA First Team All-Region along with Halus. The goalkeeper also was a Big Ten All-Academic, earned First Team All-Big Ten and was named a NFHCA Second Team All-American.Purvis (five goals, two assists) was a Big Ten All-Academic and named Second Team All-Big Ten. The junior also earned NFHCA Second Team All-Region honors.
Along with 19 returning players, Penn State welcomes newcomers Lauren Alwine (Lancaster, Pa.), Haley Kerstetter (Selinsgrove, Pa.), Ally Lauth (State College, Pa.) and Bethany Mink (Allentown, Pa.). The three freshmen will be taking part in their first college preseason camp, while Alwine comes to Happy Valley as a graduate student after playing four years of soccer for UVA.
The Nittany Lions will open the 2012 regular season the weekend of August 24 when they host Old Dominion on Friday and Virginia on Sunday. The Big Ten Champions will be featured at least three times on the BTN Network this season, including a home match against Indiana on Fri., Sept. 21 at 3:00 p.m. Contests at Northwestern on Sept. 28 and at Ohio State on Oct. 19 will also be featured on the BTN. Additionally, the BTN will air both the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and the championship game in November.
Morett's squad will continue preseason practices throughout the week. Visit GoPSUsports.com for continued camp coverage!
BTN FIELD HOCKEY COVERAGE FOR 2012 SEASON
Friday, September 21 3:00pm Indiana AT PENN STATE (LIVE)
Friday, September 28 3:00pm Penn State at Northwestern (LIVE)
Friday, October 5 3:00pm Iowa at Indiana (LIVE)
Friday, October 12 3:00pm Michigan State at Michigan (LIVE)
Friday, October 19 3:00pm Penn State at Ohio State (LIVE)
Friday, October 26 3:00pm Michigan at Iowa (LIVE)
Friday, November 2 2:30pm Big Ten Championship: Semifinal #1 (LIVE) *
Friday, November 2 5:00pm**Big Ten Championship: Semifinal #2 (LIVE) *
Sunday, November 4 2:30pm Big Ten Championship Final (LIVE)*
*Big Ten Championships at Iowa
** Semifinal #2 will start 40 minutes after conclusion of Semifinal #1
The Big Ten Network is available to more than 80 million homes through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite and telco providers in all 50 states and Canada. Armstrong, Blue Ridge and Adams Cable, though, do not carry BTN in Pennsylvania and the Medina and Youngstown, Ohio areas. More than 35,000 Penn State alumni live in the communities served by the three cable providers in Pennsylvania and Ohio, in addition to thousands more fans and current Penn State students. Armstrong, Blue Ridge and Adams Cable customers missed more than 110 Penn State events on BTN during the 2011-12 academic year, in addition to coverage from 15 conference championships.