Nov. 4, 2015
| PENN STATE AT INDIANA | |
| Thursday, Nov. 5 - 5:30 p.m. ET | |
| IU Field Hockey Complex | Bloomington, Ind. | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
TV: ESPN2 -->GameTrackerPenn State Field Hockey BlogFollow Us: @PennStateFH | Facebook | InstagramGameday Central
Game Notes: Penn State | IndianaStatistics: Penn State | Indiana
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Entering the 2015 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 6 seed, the Penn State field hockey team takes on No. 3 seed and tournament host Indiana in the opening round Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Bloomington, Indiana. The game will be the final of four games on the tournament's first day. BTN will provide live television coverage of the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game.
Big Ten Tournament Notes
- Penn State is the No. 6 seed in the eight-team tournament. With a win, the Nittany Lions would face the winner between No. 2 seed Michigan and No. 7 seed Iowa in the semifinals Friday at 4 p.m.
- The Nittany Lions hold a 25-15 all-time record at the Big Ten Tournament, winning it six times. The six tournament championships are the most of any Big Ten team since Penn State joined the conference in 1992. Most recently, Penn State was tournament champions in 2011 and 2012. The squad also won four consecutive from 1995-1998.
- The Nittany Lions have had four Big Ten Tournament MVPs, most recently with Kelsey Amy in 2011 and 2012. Since starting an all-tournament team in 1997, Penn State has had 40 players receive the honor.
Indiana Notes
- The Hoosiers enter the tournament with a 9-9 record, and a 5-3 mark in the Big Ten. They are the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
- The Hoosiers defeated Rutgers in a 2-0 shutout to clinch the three seed in the Big Ten tournament. The shutout was freshman goalkeeper Noelle Rother's third shutout in her last five games.
- Rother, is tied for first for the most saves in the Big Ten with 18 saves. She is also second in save percentage (.768).
- Offensively, Maddie Latino leads the team in goals scored (9), points (26), assists (8), and game-winning goals (3).
- Amanda Janney is in her first year as head coach for Indiana.
Series History
Penn State is 16-4-0 all-time against the Hoosiers. Penn State is 1-2 all-time against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. The teams last met in the Big Ten tournament in 2010, when Penn State shutout Indiana 4-0 for the win.
Last Time Out
Penn State defeated No. 16 Northwestern, 3-2, on Oct. 30 in Evanston, Ill.. Brooke Birosik scored the Lions' first goal at 6:38 in the first half. Birosik would score the following two goals to record her first career hat trick. Jenny Rizzo recorded a career high 15 saves in the win over the Hoosiers.
Birosik Earns Big Ten Weekly Honors
Junior Brooke Birosik (Ickesburg, Pa.) was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 3. Birosik scored all three of Penn State's goals to lead the Nittany Lions to a 3-2 victory over No. 16 Northwestern in Big Ten field hockey action Friday afternoon at Lakeside Field. The hat trick was the first of Birosik's career and it marked Penn State's second consecutive 3-2 win with one player accounting for all of the scoring. Last week's Big Ten Co-Offensive and Freshman Player of the Week, Aurelia Meijer, scored all three goals in a 3-2 win over Iowa on Oct. 30.
Two Games. Two Hat Tricks.
Aurelia Meijer has started all 17 games she has played in since arriving on campus in August. Against Iowa (Oct. 23), the freshman had her first career hat trick, scoring all three goals; her last goal being a game winning shot off of a penalty corner. Brooke Birosik tallied her first career hat trick the following week against No. 16 Northwestern (Oct. 30). She scored all of her goals within the first 45 minutes.
Coming up with Corners
The Nittany Lions rank eighth nationally with 8.06 penalty corners per game. The squad has had 12 or more on four separate occasions, including a season-high 16 against Lock Haven.
New Lions Stepping Up
With graduating seniors accounting for 50 of 57 goals scored last season, new Nittany Lions as well as players in increased roles are filling the void.
- Penn State's 34 goals this season have been scored by 10 different goal scorers. Of those 10 goal scorers, six have notched their first career goal this season, and transfer Stephanie Hussey has scored her first goals with Penn State.
- The six first-time goal scorers have accounted for 26 of the team's 34 goals.
- Four of the first-time goal scorers are freshmen: Aurelia Meijer (6), Katie Dembrowski (1), Gini Bramley (3), Mary Nell Smith (1) and Emily Klingler (1)
- Meijer has a team-high five assists and is second on the team with 17 points.
- Sophomore Shay Cannon has scored her first goals this season (4).
- Junior Brooke Birosik has also scored her first career goals this season, and owns the team lead in goal (9).
Close Contests
- Penn State has either been within a goal, tied or in the lead approaching the final six minutes in all but two contest this season (Michigan, L 1-3, 9/18; Princeton, L 0-2, 10/4)
- Seven of the losses have been by one goal, including three overtime losses.
- No. 16 Old Dominion broke a tie with 5:03 remaining to win the season-opener, 2-1, and No. 9 Virginia and California used late rallies to force overtime periods they would score first in.
- Penn State would take Ohio State to double-overtime before a fast-break goal secured the sudden victory for the Buckeyes.
- Penn State earned their first overtime win of the season against Rutgers, netting the game winning goal 45 seconds into the overtime period giving the Nittany Lions their second Big Ten win of the season.
Youth Movement
- Penn State's roster includes 10 freshmen, eight sophomores, five juniors, and two seniors.
- The squad returns just three starters from 2014 in
junior Carly Celkos, junior Emilee Ehret and sophomore Cori Conley.
- Of the 25 players on the roster, 15 had never played in a regular season game for the Lions before 2015.
- Of Penn State's 57 goals and 36 assists (150 points) tallied last season, just seven goals and seven assists (21 points) returned.
- At one point during the Oct. 4 game against Princeton, Penn State had six freshmen on the field at the same time.
Preseason Accolades
Senior Stephanie Hussey, junior Carly Celkos and sophomoroe Cori Conley were each named to the 2015 Big Ten Field Hockey Players to Watch List.
On the Turf and in the Classroom
The Penn State field hockey program had six athletes recognized by Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. The list includes students from every institution and 38 different sports who have recorded a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.
Katie Breneman, Carly Celkos, Amanda Dinunzio, Laura Gebhart, Kirsten Gochnauer, and Haley Kerstetter, all earned the accolade.
Challenging Schedule
Penn State has again put together a top-tier schedule, facing eight teams that were ranked in the 2015 NFHCA Preseason Poll, including conference-foes Maryland (3), Northwestern (10), Michigan (14), Iowa (17), and Michigan State (19). Along with the conference opponents, the squad also has matchups against Virginia (9), Princeton (15) and Old Dominion (16). Three teams (Princeton, Northwestern and Maryland) each made the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Leaders of the Pack
Seniors Haley Kerstetter and Stephanie Hussey were named the captains for the 2015 season.
Penn State Field Hockey on Social Media
Penn State field hockey is on social media. Follow the program on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PennStateFieldHockey) and Twitter/Instagram @PennStateFH. For all of your Penn State news, visit www.GoPSUsports.com.