UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Back in the win column after a three-game slide, the Penn State women's lacrosse team was finally able to find its footing last week against Albany at Panzer Stadium.
The Nittany Lions are now 4-3 on the season heading into Big Ten play, and the offense is back in form after an 11-goal performance against the Great Danes.
One huge reason Penn State got back into the win column was junior attacker Kristin Roberto, who netted three goals in the win, her highest output of the season.
"Being home and being at Panzer definitely brought out a lot of energy," Roberto said. "Just being out there playing for Penn State brought a really good vibe to the game."
Roberto's performance came without All-Big Ten senior Madison Carter in the lineup, meaning the Nittany Lions had to rely on a complete team effort even more to get the job done.
"Having Madison Carter out, each player knew that we had to bring our A-game," Roberto said. "We have to all be impact players now, and that's something we're really working on. That's what's really special about this team. We don't just have one go-to person anymore, it's spread out throughout the whole attack. It's good that we have different options and everyone is contributing."
Roberto has scored nine goals now on the season, after scoring 15 through her entire sophomore campaign last spring. She credits her success to her growth as a leader as well as her increased role with Carter out.
"Just having more experience, being a junior and upperclassman, I have a lot more confidence and I feel more comfortable this year. With all these injuries coming this season, I know it's my time to become an impact player instead of just a role player."
The win gave a much-needed boost to the Nittany Lions as well, although there were plenty of lessons to take from the shortcomings against quality teams in Princeton, Loyola and James Madison.
"It definitely boosts our confidence a lot," Roberto said. "We had a long stretch of games and they weren't the easiest games, so getting that win definitely boosted our confidence and made us get back into the swing of things. We worked on what we learned from each game, whether it's transition, attack or defense so we definitely learned a lot in that stretch and we improved a lot over each of those games."
The Nittany Lions open up the conference schedule Saturday at Michigan. Penn State finished 4-4 in league play last year and fell to the Wolverines by one goal at Panzer.
"Going into Michigan, it's supposed to be a really good game," Roberto said. "They're undefeated so far this season and it's a huge game and a huge star for us if we get the win. They have a lot of confidence right now with that perfect record. It's going to be tough to match up with their energy but I think if we just focus on ourselves and focus on our best on attack and putting away our shots, then we'll be successful."
The Nittany Lions have made offense a point of emphasis in practice over the last few weeks, and that will need to continue against the staunch defense of the Wolverines.
"With a few of our attackers out, we're definitely focusing more on attack and getting into a flow on offense, having each player have their own role and go off that. We're not just going to look for one player."
Penn State will play six of its last nine games against Big Ten competition, meaning the Nittany Lions will be facing a quality opponent essentially every week for the remainder of the regular season.
"Knowing that every team in the Big Ten is good, that's definitely a challenge, but I think we're ready for that after the stretch we just had," Roberto said. "We worked really hard, changed up our attack, worked on different plays and each player is contributing more. That will really help us into Big Ten play."
The game is set to begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday and can be seen on BTN Plus.
