March 24, 2016
By: Shannon Rostick, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Senior midfielder, Madison Cyr is coming off one of her best weeks of the season. As the leading scorer for the Nittany Lions, the leader in the Big Ten with 3.25 goals per game, and with a total of 30 goals this season, her senior year has been a huge success so far.
On Tuesday, Cyr continued her success, receiving the honor of Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after her strong two-way play, which included netting eight goals.
Being on midfield, Cyr has to tend to both the offensive and the defensive sides of the field, which at times can be tough to keep up with it. She says that team practices have really helped her to make sure that her skills on both sides of the fields stay on par with each other.
"We split up during practice, 7-on-7, with a couple reps on attack and a couple reps on defense and from there we work on our transitions," said Cyr.
"We play with a goalie clear and have to get the ball back down to the other side of the field, which really helps to work us on both ends."
Although she has seen much success on the field, Cyr could not do it all alone. She has attributed much of her recent success to collaboration with her teammates on the field, most recently with junior midfielder, Steph Lazo who had seven assists last week.
"Steph works really well behind the cage. She knows when I'm going to cut, when I want the ball and when I don't. This makes it much easier to get off more successful shots on goal," said Cyr.
She also thinks that the close-knit feel of the team has been a huge contributing factor to her success and the success of the team's entire season.
"We have grown together as a team and we are learning from each other. Our team has really great chemistry, which I think helps us to play so well together," said Cyr.
She is not the first to note how the team's chemistry has helped the team positively throughout the season, as teammates Madison Carter and Steph Lazo have also talked of how well the team understands each other and works together.
Although the majority of their season has looked promising, there are still some improvements the girls need to make. After a disappointing loss to Stanford this past weekend, the team is spending their off week working on their weaknesses and get back on the top of their game.
"This week we are really trying to work more on our defense. We have what it takes to score, but we aren't making the one-on-one stops that we need to," said Cyr.
There is still plenty of time in the regular season for the team to work on these things, but Cyr is really wishing that they find continued success and go all the way to the end. Her hopes are for another Big Ten tournament title and NCAA tournament run to finish off her senior year.
"I'm looking forward to making it as far as we can because I'm graduating. I'm just not quite ready to give up the game and go out into the real world yet," she said.
The Nittany Lions have no intention of letting up in the next couple weeks, and they are going to fight to get back to where they were last season.
The team's next game is on Wednesday, March 30th at home against Drexel starting at 7:00 p.m.