Aug. 31, 2017
Field Hockey Complex | University Park, Pa.
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -The Penn State field hockey team returns to Field Hockey Complex for its 2017 home opener against Temple Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a noon match against the No. 15 Wake Forest on Sunday afternoon.
HOME OPENER AT FIELD HOCKEY COMPLEX
Penn State is set to host Temple and Wake Forest in the first home games of the season at Field Hockey Complex. Penn State is 5-0 during opening weekend at home dating back to 2014. The Nittany Lions downed Temple 8-1 last season in the first game at Temple Sports Complex while last season's game against Wake Forest was canceled due existential downpour.
TEMPLE SERIES HISTORY
Penn State is 34-7-2 all-time in their series with the Owl's dating back to 1977. Penn State defeated to Temple 8-1 in its last meeting on Sept. 2, 2016, during their first road trip of the season.
SCOUTING TEMPLE
The Owls opened the 2017 season with a pair games at home, but are still looking for their first win after falling 4-1 to Saint Joseph's and 3-1 to Bucknell.
• Starting with Friday's game at, Temple will play five games in-a-row on the road. The first two of those are against top-25 teams, as the Owls will travel to No. 14 Northwestern on Sept. 8.
• Senior Rachael Mueller and redshirt-senior Sarah Keer are the Owls' lone goal-scorers so far in 2017.
• Temple finished last season with an appearance in the Big East Semifinals.
• The Owls are led by three co-captains this season in seniors Maiyah Brown, Hattie Kuhns and Rachael Mueller.
• Mueller, an All-Big East Second-Team selection in 2016 and a Preseason All-BIG EAST honoree this year, is the team's leading returning scorer, posting 10 goals as a junior. Sophomore Maddie Merton returns as the squad's second-leading goal-scorer with six goals in her debut campaign.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Lilliock started all 19 games in the cage for the Owls during her freshman season, posting a save percentage of .667.
• Temple has been picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll
WAKE FOREST SERIES HISTORY
Penn State is 1-3 all-time against the Deamon Deacons in their series dating back to 2001. Penn State upset then-No. 2 Wake Forest 2-0 in its last meeting on Nov. 16, 2007, to advance to the NCAA Championship game against No. 1 North Carolina where the Nittany Lions fell 3-0.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
•The Demon Deacons were ranked no. 15 by the NFHCA in the preseason
poll.
• Sophomore forward Nicola Pluta was named to the Preseason All-ACC
Team
• Although the Demon Deacons were picked to finish sixth in the conference by the
league's coaches, all seven teams in the ACC will begin the season ranked
in the top 15 in the nation.
• Junior forward Jule Grashoff leads the Deamon Deacons in goals with three thus far in the 2017 season. Grashoff has also notched a penalty stroke in 2017 that came last weekend in a win against No. 17 Iowa.
WHAT A PERFORMANCE BY BRAMLEY!
What a week it was for Gini Bramley. The junior midfielder earned Big Ten Offensive player of the week honors as well as being named the National Offensive player of the week by NFHCA. Bramley joins Jen Beaumont (10/28/08), Allison Scola (10/14/08) and Jen Long (11/13/07) as the only other Nittany Lions to earn National Player of the Week honors. On top of the fantastic week on the field for the Elizabethtown, Pa. native, Bramley celebrated her birthday this past weekend turning 20-years-old on Aug. 28.
PROMOTIONS
Penn State's opening weekend will feature several key promotions and giveaways for kids and fans of all ages.
Friday, Sept. 1 - 6:00 p.m.
• Poster giveaway
Sunday, Sept. 3 - 12:00 p.m.
• Kid's Zone Bounce House
• Ice Cream "Sunday" Station
• Post-Game Autographs
CHEERING ON THE BLUE & WHITE
Penn State finished the 2016 season ranked No. 1 in average attendance in the nation. Penn State broke the Field Hockey Complex record with a total of 967 in attendance for a conference game against Maryland and was a part of the most attended game during the 2016 season as the Nittany Lions captured the Big Ten Tournament title against the very same Terrapins in College Park that was played in front of 969 fans.
B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Big Ten Conference announced its 2017 field hockey preseason honors highlighted by seven All-Big Ten selections from last season, including Penn State's Aurelia Meijer, Skyler Fretz and Gini Bramley.
CHALLENGING SLATE
Penn State has again put together a top-tier schedule, facing nine teams that were ranked in the 2017 NFHCA Preseason Poll, including conference-foes Maryland (6), Michigan (11), Northwestern (14), and Iowa (17). Along with the conference opponents, the squad also has matchups against Delaware (3), Princeton (8), Virginia (10), Wake Forest (15), and Old Dominion (23). Six teams (Kent State, Princeton, Virginia, Michigan, Delaware, Maryland) each made the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT ON BTN
Penn State will play on BTN live Sunday, Oct. 15 starting at 3:00 p.m. as the Nittany Lions take on Maryland in College Park, Md. The crucial contest will be the Nittany Lion's third to last before the Big Ten tournament and is a re-match of last year's Big Ten Tournament Championship game that saw Penn State win its conference record seventh Big Ten tournament title. Penn State's game at Ohio State (Oct. 6) will also be streamed on BTN.
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Seniors Shay Cannon and Skyler Fretz were named the captains for the 2017 season.
NFHCA PRESEASON RANKINGS
The Penn State field hockey team opens the 2017 season ranked No. 7 in the nation as announced by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) preseason poll.
North Carolina earned the No. 1 spot in the preseason poll with 1,137 points and 14 first-place votes, while Duke was right behind with 1,081 points and 15 first-place votes.
Defending national champion Delaware checks in at No. 3 in the preseason ranking with 1,003 points and seven first-place votes and was followed closely by Connecticut with 993 points and four first-place votes and Syracuse with 978 points to round out the top five.
The Nittany Lions at No. 7 are the second highest Big Ten team in the ranking right behind Maryland who checks in at No. 6.
Penn State is slated to compete against nine of the teams that are listed in the preseason poll, including the defending National Champion Delaware Blue Hens.
The Big Ten is represented by five teams in the poll including No. 6 Maryland, No. 7 Penn State, No. 11 Michigan, No. 14 Northwestern and No. 17 Iowa.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Penn State enters the 2017 season with four new faces in the Blue & White for the Nittany Lions. Freshman additions include Syd Dreisigmeyer, Clayre Smith, and Emma Spisak while Bree Bednarski is a transfer from Michigan.
ON THE TURF AND IN THE CLASSROOM
The Penn State field hockey program had six student-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.
Shay Cannon Jr. Biobehavioral Health
Carly Celkos Sr. Rehabilitation and Human Services
Colleen Conway So. Mathematics
Kirsten Gochnauer Sr. Biobehavioral Health
Cassa Kline So. Biobehavioral Health
Lisa Winters Jr. Business Administration