May 5, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss announced the 2016 schedule for the Penn State field hockey team Thursday, as the Nittany Lions are slated to take on seven top-20 teams and seven NCAA tournament teams from last season.
Entering her 30th season guiding the Nittany Lions, Morett will have a young but experienced squad, losing two seniors from last year's team, but returning several players who saw significant time on the field during the 2015 season.
The 2016 schedule will begin at home, as the Lions will take on Old Dominion Friday, Aug. 26 and Virginia Sunday, Aug. 28. Both are perennial powerhouses year in and year out with Virginia finishing in the Top 20 of the final 2015 coaches' poll and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
"We're real excited about continuing to open the season against Old Dominion and Virginia," said head coach Charlene Morett-Curtiss.
"This year we have both of those teams at home, two great contests last year on the road and it always gives us a very clear indication of how the rest of the season is going to play out. You know your strengths and weakness' against two top opponent's right from the start."
Nine of the 17 regular season games will be played at home at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex, where the Lions went 4-3 last season. The home slate opens with Old Dominion and Virginia followed by two road games against Temple and Albany. After two road games, Lock Haven and Bucknell will visit Penn State on Sunday, Sept. 11 and Tuesday, Sept. 13 for 12 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET matches, respectively.
"Moving into the season, Albany is on our schedule this year they're a new team that we're playing. They've been in the Top 10 the past couple of years, also we've added another ACC team in Wake Forest who we will play on the road. We look at (Wake Forest) as being a great challenge right in the middle of our Big Ten season," added Morett-Curtiss.
The Big Ten schedule begins the following weekend at Iowa (Sept. 16) in Iowa City. The Nittany Lions will also play Ball State the following day in a neutral site contest at Iowa.
"Heading into Big Ten season I think its very competitive amongst the teams in this conference. Every team from top to bottom, you can't take anyone for granted," said Morett-Curtiss.
The Blue and White will return to Big Ten play and the Penn State Field Hockey Complex the following weekend for a three-game homestretch, longest homestretch of the season, hosting Michigan State (Sept. 30) and Princeton (Oct. 2). PSU will then conclude the non-conference slate the next weekend, traveling to Wake Forest (Oct. 8).
Back-to-back defending Big Ten regular season champion Maryland will visit Happy Valley Sunday, Oct. 16, and then Penn State will travel to Rutgers (Oct. 21) before hosting Indiana in the home finale Friday, Oct. 28 at 6:00 p.m.
Maryland will host the Big Ten Tournament Nov. 3-6. Since joining the Big Ten in 1992, Penn State is second in the conference with seven regular season titles and first with six tournament titles.
The Penn State field hockey team will embark on a trip overseas beginning Saturday, May 7 and continue through Monday, May 16 as the team looks to continue to train and learn heading into next season.
"We're real excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the top club teams in Holland, said Morett-Curtiss.
"We'll play games against Bloemendaal, a team from The Hague, HDM and also Nardin. We get the opportunity to play a 16U boys national team which I think is going to be extremely challenging but very fun in so many different ways. We'll also visit the different clubs there, the culture within the city of Amsterdam and The Hague. I think it will be a wonderful experience for our players to see how the sport of field hockey is fully embraced by this tiny country. They'll know all about the sport they'll applaud good plays and probably a little critical on mistakes but I think that's what our players need is to see just how their sport is highly revered in that country and I think having the opportunity to go back with Aurelia (Meijer) will be special as well."
The Lions will also look to make their 31st program appearance at the NCAA Tournament the following weekend. Penn State has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 11 of the past 14 years, making six quarterfinal appearances, one semifinals appearance and one appearance as a NCAA Finalist in 2007. In the history of the field hockey program, the Lions have made seven semifinal appearances and two championship game appearances. To view the complete 2016 Penn State field hockey schedule click here.
For more on Nittany Lion field hockey, log onto www.GoPSUsports.com or follow the team on Twitter @PennStateFH.