April 18, 2018
By Briana Zuccarelli, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State Nittany Lions head into their final stretch of regular season play, which may be the most difficult games of the season.
The Nittany Lions will face the first and third-ranked lacrosse programs in the country in their next two games, No. 3 Maryland followed by No. 1 Stony Brook, both on the road. Penn State is now 9-5 on its season and 3-1 in Big Ten play. Head coach Missy Doherty knows it will be a challenge but believes her team is ready.
"I think we are always competing hard and our players are always in every game," Doherty said. "I think we need to make some momentum plays. At certain points, there have been a couple losses where the other team just scored at the right time. Going against the better offenses, I think we need to find a way to make some better stops."
On Thursday, the team will travel to College Park, Maryland to take on the Terrapins. Maryland now sits at 14-1 for its season and has a perfect 4-0 record in the Big Ten. Thursday's game will mark Maryland and Penn State's 55th meeting.
"I think a lot of teams have the same history with Maryland," Doherty said. "They're a team that certainly wins. For us, coming back-to-back two Final Fours, is great experience for our program and taught our team a lot. Our last regular season games against them have been tight games and good matches. I think we have the type of players that can compete hard against any team."
After the matchup against Maryland, the Nittany Lions will then have to focus on playing No. 1 Stony Brook on Tuesday, April 24th in New York. This will be the first time since 2005 that Penn State faced a top-3 team in back-to-back weeks.
"It is never hard to get the team motivated when playing teams like Maryland and Stony Brook," Doherty explained. "Playing in those games, you have to do the simple things well all the time. You can't have any minor mistakes that turn into bigger ones when you play these better teams."
The Nittany Lions are focusing on being consistent and playing the full 60 minutes heading into their last three games against Maryland, Stony Brook, and Michigan. Senior Madison Carter explained the importance of consistency and not letting an away game change your mindset.
"I mean, we love to play at home," Carter said prior to the two road games. "But we also need to love playing away too. We can't let it change our mindset and we can't let the travel and being on the road get to you. We just have to stay having a good mindset like we would if we were playing here at home."
Carter also explained what the experienced players have been telling some of the younger ones, leading into the toughest games of the season.
Players like freshmen Rachel Rosen, Quinn Nicolai, Sophia Triandafils, and Lucy Lowe, will continue to be pushed to make big plays, especially heading into the final games of the season. Rosen now has four goals and 12 assists for the season, while Nicolai leads the freshman with 19 goals and 24 points followed closely behind by Triandafils with 18 goals and 23 points. Lowe, the starting goalie, now has a .439 save percentage on the season.
"They just need to treat it like any other game," Carter said. "Maryland is obviously a big Big Ten game for us, but they can't let the outside pressures and the hype of the game get to them. Just come out, bring what you do best and play your hardest for the full 60 minutes."