From start to finish Jenny Rizzo made save after save in goal yesterday, helping seventh-ranked Penn State upset No. 2 Maryland 3-1 at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex.
The Penn State goalkeeper was tested early against undefeated Maryland, the Big Ten Conference's No.1 scoring offense and league leader with 49 goals.
About 11 minutes into the first half, Rizzo used her leg to stop Maryland senior forward Julie Duncan's shot for her first save of the game. Minutes later Rizzo came off her line to deny Maryland senior forward Linnea Gonzales' shot then came up with another stop by blocking Maryland sophomore midfielder Kyler Greenwalt's shot on goal. Rizzo was locked in from the beginning of the contest.
"Going into the game I'm just ball-focused, so a lot times you'll hear me screaming out there but once the ball gets in the circle where they're allowed to shoot, my head is just on the ball no matter what," Rizzo said following the game.
Rizzo continued her dominant first-half performance by saving a near post shot by Maryland junior defender Kelee Lepage with her leg with less than 10 minutes left. The senior collected her fifth save of the half after blocking Maryland sophomore midfielder Brooke DeBerdine's shot.
With Penn State up 1-0 at halftime, Penn State head coach Char Morett-Curtiss talked to her team in-between halves about continuing to play like it did in the first half and what it could improve on.
"She always gives us some things to work on at halftime because no matter how we're playing, like we won the first half (today), but there's always an area we can improve and she just told us to keep doing what we're doing and then offered some improvements on the press and outlet," Rizzo said.
Rizzo went untested for about 23 minutes to start the second half but once Penn State extended its lead to 3-0, Maryland earned a penalty corner, which she and the defense handled successfully. Maryland earned another penalty corner minutes later but Rizzo used her leg to block Maryland junior defender Nike Lorenz's shot.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Penn State committed a foul near the cage, which was challenged by Maryland and reviewed by the referees. Following the video review, the referees awarded Maryland a penalty stroke. Lorenz shot the stroke to the right of Rizzo and scored Maryland's only goal of the game.
"The stroke goes in and I'm thinking 'I'm getting the next shot' and that kind of helps me from thinking 'Oh did I just let a goal in, did I just make a bad save'," Rizzo said. "I just move on to the next one."
Along with bouncing back following the goal, team communication was key for Rizzo throughout the game, as she dealt with the noise from the crowd and Maryland's offense.
"Yeah it was a loud day," Rizzo said with a hoarse voice. "It's really important especially for this team, they had a lot of movement within their forwards and midfielders, so communication of marking is just so vital and I think we did a really good job of that, not just me but the whole team, everyone was talking so that was great."
Penn State as a team not only communicated well and played with poise but Rizzo and the defense stepped up when it mattered the most against Maryland.
"I thought that we played with a lot of composure and I think that was huge," Morrett-Curtiss said after the game. "That defensive backfield and Jenny (Rizzo), they all played awesome."
Defeating Maryland was huge for Penn State but the team has not peaked according to Rizzo.
"I'm hoping that we're still on the rise but definitely this is one of our highest points this season so far, I mean we took down No. 2," Rizzo said.
