Sept. 17, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Brittany Grzywacz (Collegeville, Pa.) was awarded the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon. The senior was instrumental in the Nittany Lions' successful week, helping the squad record wins over Lock Haven and No. 3 Princeton.
The defender led Penn State's great defensive effort against Lock Haven on Wednesday evening. The Blue and White did not allow a shot on goal in the entire match and yielded only two total shots in the 70 minutes of play. Lock Haven attempted only two penalty corners in the match, with the first coming in the 60th minute.
Against Princeton, Grzywacz made an impact on both ends of the field. The senior scored the first goal of the match in Sunday's showdown with the Tigers. After Grzywacz's goal, the Nittany Lions never trailed. The goal played a large role in Penn State snapping the defending NCAA national champion's 17-match winning streak, the longest active streak in the country for an NCAA DI program going into Sunday.
The Collegeville, Pa. native is no stranger to Big Ten accolades, as Grzywacz is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. With this week's honor, the senior has now claimed the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award three times in her career, one in each of the past three seasons.
With last week's goal, Grzywacz has found the back of the cage three times this season, two of which have been game winners. The three goals in 2013 push her career total to an astounding 27 scores as a defensive player.
Grzywacz and the Nittany Lions will be back in action this weekend, as Penn State hosts Delaware on Friday, Sept. 20 at 5 p.m. The Blue and White then travels to Lafayette for a Sunday matchup that begins at noon.