March 18, 2017
By Ryan Berti, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind Penn State's three-headed monster on the attack; Madison Carter, Steph Lazo and Katie O'Donnell, the Nittany Lions were a force to be reckoned with as the trio showed up in full force against Rutgers in an 18-7 victory.
Each of the three tallied a hat trick (Carter - 4 goals, O'Donnell - 4, Lazo - 3), making it the third time this season three Nittany Lions have recorded a hat trick in the same game. The other two instances occurred on the road at Duquesne (Lazo - 5 goals, Carter - 4, Auth - 3) and in the opening week, when the trio did the accomplishment almost twice over (Carter - 6 goals, Lazo - 5, O'Donnell - 5).
Combined, the three tallied 18 points off of 11 goals and seven assists. The three played a major factor in the team's offensive output, having a hand in 14 of the team's 18 goals.
"That's what you want to count on in these games especially going into Big Ten is your leaders really need to step up and thankfully they did that today," head coach Missy Doherty said on the three's leadership and play.
While the group as a whole left a big mark on the game, individually each one brings something unique to the table.
Carter, while leading the team in goals both against Rutgers and on the season, dominated the draw control and gave the Nittany Lions a huge advantage in the battle for possession. Her wheels and killer instinct on the field played a huge factor as on multiple occasions she simply outran everyone else in play, scoring momentum shifting breakaway goals.
Lazo acts as the efficient point guard, where every successful offensive possession runs through her. Not only did she contribute with her stick with Saturday's three goals, but she cut through the defense to make open lanes and found the ball to teammates with precision even when they were barely open. She was able to use her keen vision and passing to help teammates light up the board a whopping six times against Rutgers, raising her yearly assist total to 26.
Last, but not least, O'Donnell is one of the squad's reliable attacker who can hit from long range and seems to always find an open spot near the net. She also has been a fire starter for the program as a main catalyst in many of the team's scoring runs. With her four goals Saturday, the junior now has now tallied 115 points with 104 goals, and has recorded multi-goal games 23 times over the past two seasons.
Coach Doherty says a good deal of the team's offensive success came from both finishing shots and the chemistry the attackers shared, opening up the door for the team's playmakers.
"[The attackers] worked the ball really well, I thought down the stretch we had some more legs really going hard to the cage," she said. "Once we got our cutting and our rhythm going they did a good job at using all the attackers, not just one or two."
Lazo and Carter said postgame that they are glad to be producing for their team and that it's nice to see everyone contributing.
"You always want to come out and do your best, and the fact that the three of us are producing good numbers, it's always nice to want to consistently do that for your team," Lazo said. "I think we want to make our coach proud and make our team proud."
But the girls still remain humble as their own "biggest critics," and know that their success only goes as far as the rest of their teammates around them.
"Everyone on our attack is a threat and we always hone in on that so it's really good to get everyone involved and get the ball moving," Carter said.
Penn State now heads on the road for a three-game stretch. Up next is Princeton on Tuesday, March 21, at 2 p.m.