Sept. 24, 2014 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Gabrielle Richards, GoPSUsports Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Nittany Lion offense made themselves comfortable in the Lady Eagles' circle in Tuesday night's contest. Aside from a 5-1 win, Penn State was able to notch a season high 16 corners, scoring off four of them.
The Importance of the Corner...
A field hockey corner is much like earning a corner kick in soccer or a free throw in basketball: it's a scoring opportunity that doesn't come along often. For a field hockey corner to be earned, the offense must force the ball into the defense's feet or cause an obstruction of play inside the circle. If successful, the offense will be given an opportunity to take a direct shot on the cage, with only four opposing defensive players and a keeper attempting to stop the goal. Teams often come up "trick plays" to lure the defense to the ball, then dishing it to a player at the post. Penn State has been most successful with a direct shot coming from senior Taylor Herold.
"Lock Haven did a great job in the first half triple teaming in the circle," coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss said. "But, we were diligent about drawing the corner."
Turning on the 'Scoring Switch'
In Tuesday's contest, the first Nittany Lion goal was scored off a corner. Herold received the ball from Emilee Ehret and took a direct drive from the top of the circle. Amanda Dinunzio was then able to tip it in, giving Penn State an early lead. Ehret notched her third goal of the season off another corner, lifting Penn State to a 2-0 lead.
"I just need to make sure I send the ball into the circle quickly and accurately," Ehret said. "The flyers we face are super fast, so the quicker the insert gets the ball off the more time the hitter has time to get a shot off."
Before halftime, Lock Haven received a penalty stoke (another rarity in the game of field hockey). A penalty stroke, much a like a penalty shot in ice hockey, is a one-on-one chance to earn a goal. The Lady Eagles were able to score off the stroke, when Taylor Kennedy flicked the ball into the top left corner of the cage. The Nittany Lions were lead 2-1 at halftime.
"During halftime, our coaches told us we needed to get more results," Herold said. "We needed to draw more corners and get more shots on goal. We tried to force the corner play."
Penn State opened the second half with three back-to-back corner opportunities. Like the saying goes, "third time's a charm," Herold fired off a direct shot on the cage on the third corner. Just a few minutes later, the Nittany Lions earned another corner and Herold found the back of the net off of her direct drive. With just over 10 minutes left to play, Dinunzio found the back of the net off of another Penn State corner, lifting the Nittany Lions to a 5-1 lead.
Penn State has successfully been able to force corner play in each game this season. In the past eight games, the Nittany Lions have capitalized off one or more corners in all but two games, posting 69 corners thus far.
Looking Ahead...
The Nittany Lions are on the road for the next five games, three of which are Big Ten Contests. This weekend they will visit Michigan State and Ohio State for two Big Ten contests, followed by a weekend in Philadelphia, Pa. taking on Drexel and Temple. The Nittany Lions will round out their travel schedule with a matchup against new Big Ten matchup, Maryland.
"The energy that we had in the second half against Lock Haven is something we need to keep up, especially with our Big Ten play," Herold said. "We need to keep making things happen."