Sept. 13, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 6 Penn State field hockey team will gear up for another weekend road trip, traveling first to Lehigh on Friday, Sept. 14, for a 6 p.m. night game. The Nittany Lions, now 6-2 on the season, will then battle Monmouth on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m. in New Jersey.
The squad most recently defeated Lock Haven, downing the Eagles 5-0 for a team shutout. Five Lions found the back of the net on Wednesday against the Eagles, with senior Kelsey Amy (Sweet Valley, Pa.) scoring her 60th career goal. The forward leads the team with 18 points after recording eight goals and two assists in eight games. Sophomore Laura Gebhart (Mount Joy, Pa.) earned the game-winner in the contest, tallying her second goal of the season on Amy's assist. Gebhart currently sits at nine points.
Fifth-year senior Hannah Allison (Mifflinburg, Pa.), sophomore Taylor Herold (Fredericksburg, Va.) and junior Ashtin Klingler (Selinsgrove, Pa.) also scored for Penn State, with Allison and Herold registering their first goals of the season. Junior Whitney Reddig (Lititz, Pa.) notched two assists in the match, bringing her season total to six to lead the team. Second leading point scorer Brittany Grzywacz (Collegeville, Pa.), who sits at 12 points with six goals, continues to be a force for the Lions, as do sophomores Katie Andrews (Lancaster, Pa.) and Katie Breneman (Washington Boro, Pa.) at defense.
Holding strong in goal for the Lions is fifth-year senior Ayla Halus (Hershey, Pa.). The goalkeeper helped the team earn their second shutout of the season, making two saves against Lock Haven to improve to a 1.55 GAA. The veteran currently holds a .727 save percentage on 32 saves.
Lehigh is coming off of its first win of the season after the 6-3 defeat of Towson. Co-leading point scorer Lindsay Metzger tallied three goals in the contest to move to 11 points. Also holding strong at 11 points, Kimberly Eng recorded her fourth goal and third assist of the season. Erin Ricker and Caitlyn Mitchell also scored, while three other Mountain Hawks notched assists. Sophie Fitzpatrick earned the win against Towson, though Sydney Maltinsky has played the majority of Lehigh's contests. Fitzpatrick holds a 3.62 GAA and a .538 save percentage in two games, while Maltinsky holds a 3.36 GAA and a .773 save percentage on 51 saves.
Penn State leads the all-time series against Lehigh, holding an 8-0 record since the first meeting in 1977. The two squads have not met since 1990, with the Lions defeating the Mountain Hawks 7-1 on Sept. 18 in Happy Valley.
After a rough start to the 2012 season, Monmouth looks to get its first win of the year after a seven-game losing streak. In a schedule riddled with tough opponents like No. 7 Syracuse and No. 24 Fairfield, the Hawks most recently fell 3-1 to Delaware. Tara Brown recorded her first goal of the season in the contest, aided by Michelle Pieczynski with an assist. Pieczynski leads the team with five goals and 11 points, while Brown sits at six points with one goal and four assists. Amanda Schoenfeld also feeds the offense with two goals for four points. Backstopping for Monmouth, Teresa Mathews has played in every minute of the Hawks' seven games. She holds a 4.53 GAA and a.579 save percentage with 44 saves.
This will be the second all-time meeting for the two teams, with Penn State holding a 1-0 advantage. In 2010, the Lions topped the Hawks 7-2 on October 3 at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
The Lions will have a week-long break before returning home to begin Big Ten competition. Penn State hosts Indiana on Sept. 21 at 3 p.m. for a Big Ten Network aired matchup.
Check back to GoPSUSports.com for continued updates during the 2012 season. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PennStateFH and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstatefieldhockey.
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