Oct. 18, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lions host Big Ten foe Michigan State in the final home match of the season at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex. Saturday is Senior Day for the Nittany Lions, as the team honors its eight seniors. The Senior Day ceremony will be held prior to the noon start.
With Saturday representing the last home match of the season, Penn State field hockey will be having a number of giveaways and promotions throughout the day. Each fan will receive a raffle ticket and the team will be giving away a number of prizes, including autographed posters, autographed jerseys and a variety of gift certificates.
All fans are reminded that Penn State has a no bag policy that will be enforced at every Penn State home event throughout the year. One clear plastic one-gallon bag per person is the only bag permitted at all Penn State home events.
The Nittany Lions went 2-0 over the weekend, dominating Ohio State by a final of 6-1 on Friday and edging Bucknell 2-0 on the road in a Sunday matchup. The two victories push Penn State's winning streak to nine matches.
Five different Nittany Lions got into the scoring column over the course of the two matches, with Brittany Grzywacz, Lauren Purvis and Jenna Chrismer each scoring two goals over the weekend. The team scored six first half goals, four vs. OSU and two at Bucknell, the most goals in the first frames of back-to-back matches all season.
The Nittany Lion seniors have left their mark on the program. The class of 2014 has compiled a record of 59-19 (.756), qualified for the NCAA Tournament each season, won back-to-back Big Ten Tournament championships and helped capture last year's Big Ten regular season title for the first time since 2008. The current .756 winning percentage is the highest of any class since 2000 seniors graduated with a win percentage of .769.
Penn State holds a commanding series lead over the visitors from Michigan State in the all-time series, going 25-10 against the Spartans. The Nittany Lions have won each of the last three meetings with Michigan State, combining to outscore the Spartans 14-3 combined in the last three matchups.
Penn State's home record against MSU is 9-5 in the all-time series, winning by a final of 4-1 in 2011, the last time the Spartans traveled to State College. Last year Penn State recorded its third largest victory in the series, winning by a final of 6-1. The last MSU win over Penn State came on October 31, 2009.
Michigan State brings a perfect Big Ten record into the matchup of the conference's only remaining unbeaten teams. The Spartans have won four of their last five matches, including Big Ten wins over Ohio State (3-2), Indiana (4-3) and intrastate rival Michigan (3-2). In the last five contests, MSU has outscored its opponents by a combined 18-9, recording an 8-0 shutout in its most recent match vs. Ball State.
Thus far into the season, the Spartans have shared six common opponents with Penn State (Princeton, Delaware, Old Dominion, Ohio State, Indiana and Miami (Ohio). Michigan State has a record of 2-4 vs. those six teams while PSU is 6-0 against the same opponents.
After the meeting with the Spartans, the Nittany Lions will be on the road for the remainder of the regular season. The Blue and White will travel to Iowa City next weekend for a Big Ten showdown with the Hawkeyes on Friday, Oct. 25 in a match that is slated to begin at 3 p.m. The contest vs. Iowa will air live on the Big Ten Network. After facing the Hawkeyes, Penn State will face UC Davis for the first time in program on Saturday Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. The match will be a neutral site match in Iowa City.
The Nittany Lions will then wrap up the regular season at Michigan, as the showdown with the Wolverines could play a large role in deciding the Big Ten regular season champion. The match is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m.