Aug. 23, 2016
Charlene Morett-Curtiss Opening Statement: We're just real excited about our upcoming weekend with Old Dominion and UVA (Virginia). We generally start out with those two strong teams, we've been doing that for the past I'd say, and I've been here for 30 years so the past 28 or 29 years. We had a very successful preseason and I'm very proud of the players the way they came back getting ready for preseason and we really accomplished a lot. We've really had to tweak our line up a little bit, but the girls really played a lot this summer so coming into preseason I think they were in game fit shape which is something that we haven't always had. I think the other thing that was really impressive about our preseason is our comradery between the girls they've really just had a lot of fun out there trained really hard and really took advantage of the time off to get rested and recovered so they can come back the next day and have a high quality practice. So we're just real excited about the two scrimmages we had we beat Kent State 6-1 and Drexel 4-2 this past week. I feel like we're in a really good place but obviously there is a lot of work to be done to meet the formable opponents that we have this weekend in ODU and UVA. Brooke and Carly are two of our four seniors, Carly and Kirsten Gochnauer are our two captains. Brooke and Emilee Ehret round out the senior class and I couldn't be more proud of the senior class. They're a bunch of high quality classy women, very committed to the program, and it's going to be exciting to see how they perform this season.
Q: You've been happy with what you've seen so far of this team, what do you think are the strong points of this group?
Coach Morett-Curtiss: I think their connectedness from the back field to the forward line has greatly improved. My assistant Stuart Smith, Lisa Bervinchak-Love, and Simon Blanford a new volunteer assistant have really been working on the different lines independently and then we have been working on the three lines together so I think that we have really seen more continuity between the backfield to the midfield through the forward line so I think there is a greater sense of connectedness between the players on the field, on and off the field actually.
A: Brooke Birosik: I completely agree, I think our trip to Holland was really a great team building experience and it really brought us together off the field as well so I think that's really showing on the field this year, especially during pre-season and our two scrimmages.
A: Carly Celkos: I agree with that, we also had 17 of us up here during the summer and I think that's really helped us as we would play together, do homework, hangout, going to the movies and I really think that helped create our bond on the field
Q: What do you think of the way Jenny Rizzo is playing so far in the cage this year?
Coach Morett-Curtiss: Jenny has probably been the most improved player on the field and a lot of that is really attributed ot Stuart Smith our goalie coach. Jenny is really athletic, but she really needed to learn the intricacies of the position itself. She was fortunate enough to be identified by Janneke Schopman the US U21 coach at the end of last season who brought Jenny into some of the US U21 training camps and as a result Jenny made the Junior Pan Am Games this past march and the team was very successful, so Jenny has had a high level of training with the U21's as well and has brought that back to Penn State. She was also named to go to the Junior World Cup which will be at the end of November. So I think her training and her getting more experience in the cage has made a big big difference for the team.
Q: Last year wasn't a year that was up to standard for what you expect, what are some of the things that you are trying to change for this year.
Coach Morett-Curtiss: We're trying to and we'll work on this a little more this week, but trying to have a little more composure at the end of the game, and having the mental toughness at the end of the game to give up the lead. We lost five games in the last five minutes just giving up goals. I think that's something that we have definitely been talking about and working on is just that composure out of the backfield a little more. The one thing that I try to express to the team a little more is even with our trip to Holland is it's really how we perform, we compete. I think we're much much better competitors for 70 minutes than what we showed last year. Last year was just such an inexperienced team, we grew throughout the season and I was extremely proud of the way we continued to compete as the season was winding down but we're hoping to get off to a better start and be more competitive as we start the season this year.
Q: Going into the season what changes in how you approach the preseason now that you have a lot more returning starters compared to last year, and how far ahead at this point last year do you feel this year's team is?
Coach Morett-Curtiss: last year we were really fortunate that we had an intern from the kinesiology department a student by the name of Bobby Lucas who played club ice hockey here. He worked a lot with the US Sports Science person Dave Hamilton. He looked at our players everyday with heart monitors and hydration, sleep, nutrition.. So at the end of his internship he spelled out for us "this is what I would suggest" maybe tweaking some of your training hours, times, regeneration and we took to heart what he said. So one thing we emphasized this summer was getting more playing time on the field as opposed to conditioning and lifting and I think that was a big difference with them coming in that we were able to have a more efficient preseason and we were more contentious about hard training days moderate days easy days and resting days. So we really have had a better plan to develop our week of practice.
Q: last year you had a lot of penalty corner opportunities but were really able to convert a lot of them, have you changed your approach any?
Coach Morett-Curtiss: We have. Last year it seemed like we had a lot of corner options but we weren't as successful with putting the ball in the cage from the corner situations. This year we're taking a page out of the Olympic playbook. When you watched the Olympic Games this summer there were so many corners that were redirections and tips which is what we're really looking to do. Carly is shooter she's a pure hitter, Brooke is a dragflikker so with Brooke's deception we're hoping she can redirect the ball left or right of the cage for tippers. We had Katie Dembrowski scored one off of Aurelia during our Drexel game, but we're really looking for a little more redirection out of our offensive corners.
Q: for either of the two ladies, how do you view the Olympics? Do you look at them for pointers or ideas?
A: Carly Celkos: I think the Olympic team has made so much progress over the last four years and we definitely look up to them as far as their fitness level and how united they are as a team. We definitely watch all of the games to see things that we could implement into our game such as their corners and their fitness and their possession skills.
A: Brooke Birosik: I agree, I think they're a big inspiration to us and we can look up to them on how fit they are and how committed they are to the program. They're really professional and really lady like, that's what we like to look up to. It's a good inspiration and it's good to get together with our team and bond over watching them during this past preseason.
Coach Morett-Curtiss: it's just too bad the Olympics are every four years because we learned so much from watching them play and we are fortunate here at Penn State because we're close to the Nook where a couple of the girls have gone down to see them play, we got to see a little of the Inda series. But when you can watch that level of hockey and then go out and practice some of the same passing patterns players can really buy into it.
Q: Brooke you had a breakout season last year as a goal scorer what have you done over the offseason to try to build off of it this year?
A: Brooke Birosik: This summer like Carly said we had 17 girls up at the field so it was really fun to just throw in the group chat "hey does anyone want to go up to the field and shoot around?" and I know Jenny and Colleen were up to take some shots. Summer was a good time to get up there and do a few reverse chip dragflips, shots with the whole team and it's a good time for all of us to work on it.
Q: Is Moira Putch healthy and ready to go this season and if so how are you planning on using her?
Coach Morett-Curtiss: Moira has made significant strides with her rehabilitation of her knee. I also feel that she's a lot stronger and faster, I feels she's really confident with her knee. She's been on the field, Moira has a very keen game sense so sometimes when you see her playing out there she plays smart. She knows where to cut and lead, she can help others on the line so I think her scoring is something that we're definitely looking forward to but also thin k it's the way she brings the forward line together that been most beneficial to the program.
Q: who has taken over as the leaders on this team this season with the departure of Stephanie Hussey?
Coach Morett-Curtiss: I would say, Carly Brooke and Kirstin Gochnauer. They have the team motivated and pumped up when practice is ready to start. The senior have been the leaders that we expected and it's been a proud moment for us as a staff to see them take that lead.