UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 5 Penn State will travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia as they will face off against nonconference opponent James Madison in what is the team's first game away from Jeffrey Field this season. For one Nittany Lion coach, however, this matchup is more than just an important early season road test – it's a homecoming.
Volunteer assistant coach Haley Miller is no stranger to JMU's Sentara Park, as she was a student-athlete for the Dukes from 2010-2013 and served as an assistant coach during the 2017 season.
"It's with mixed emotions," Miller said of her return to her alma mater. "I spent six years at JMU and my sister spent four years before me so there's definitely some family history there, but at the same time, I'm with Penn State now. I'm really excited to be going back and to see these girls play on my old home turf, though."
Miller, who served as JMU's team captain during the 2013 season, has been a great addition to Penn State's coaching staff this year. Head coach Erica Dambach talked about what coach Miller brings to the team.
"She spent some time today working with our developmental players and trying to bring them along as much as we can. She's been a huge help in our staff with her ideas, energy, and the players have really taken to her in just a short period of time," Dambach said.
Junior defender Laura Suero also shared a similar message about her experiences with Coach Miller.
"Haley's been awesome," Suero said of Miller. "She even becomes an extra practice player sometimes just to get touches with us. She's really meaningful with everything she says."
As for the game itself, the program sees this matchup as a great opportunity to get acclimated to playing away from Happy Valley.
"We're excited to get on the road," Dambach said. "We've been here together for a lot of consecutive days and the team is excited to just travel together. Going on the road focuses you a little more and takes away some of the distractions."
"It's always challenging going on the road," Suero added. "We've been at home the past three games and it's been awesome. Playing at Jeffrey Field is great, but the opportunity to go and play on other people's fields is awesome too. We have really good competition that we're playing this year so it's really important to get out and play these other teams."
When asked about the biggest challenge the Dukes pose to the Blue and White, Miller didn't hesitate in her answer.
"Being on their home turf," Miller said convincingly. "JMU has always been known as sort of the underdogs, so they're going to be ready for a fight and we're excited about that. I think they're going to challenge our physicality."
Dambach echoed the words of her first-year assistant coach, pointing towards JMU's home field advantage.
"They're going to pack their place and it's going to be a great environment," Dambach added. "I think it's a relatively new stadium and this is going to be a huge game on their schedule. So for us, it's about making sure we keep our standard."
No. 5 Penn State and James Madison will square off Thursday night at 7 p.m.
