UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2020-21 field hockey schedule this afternoon and the Penn State Nittany Lion field hockey team will play a 14-game slate. Head coach Char Morett-Curtiss and her Penn State squad will play four neutral site games, six home games and four road games beginning in February and ending in April.
The conference will utilize a neutral site in Virginia Beach, Va., for two weekends in February to get the season started for all nine conference squads. Penn State will head to the site for each weekend. The Nittany Lions open up their season on Friday, Feb. 26, with a neutral site game in Virginia against Michigan. The team then battles Iowa on Sunday, Feb. 28. The next weekend, Penn State will face Northwestern on Friday, March 5, and Iowa again on Sunday, March 7.
The Nittany Lions are set to open up home play at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex with two games against Maryland in Happy Valley. The Lions and Terrapins will battle on Friday, March 12, and Sunday, March 14. Morett-Curtiss' crew hits the road the next weekend for two games at Michigan State. Penn State and MSU tangle on Friday and Sunday, March 19 and 21.
After a week off, Penn State travels to Rutgers for two game with the Scarlet Knights. The Lions and Rutgers battle on Friday and Sunday, April 2 and 4. Penn State's last four games are at home over the next two weekends. The Lions welcome Indiana on Friday and Sunday, April 9 and 11. The regular season concludes with Penn State hosting Ohio State on Thursday and Saturday, April 15 and 17. The Big Ten Tournament will be at Iowa on April 20-24.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the Big Ten Conference for working so hard to put together an outstanding schedule under these circumstances," said Morett-Curtiss. "I'd like to thank Penn State Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women's Administrator Charmelle Green and Faculty Advisor Dennis Scanlon for their support during this process. I'd also like to thank Lisa Cellucci, head coach at Iowa, and Barbara Burke, Iowa's Deputy Director of Athletics and SWA, for their efforts."
"A.J. Edds, Assistant Director of Sports Administration at the Big Ten played a big part in getting this done and we owe him our gratitude as well," Morett-Curtiss continued. "We're excited to face this schedule, which gives us the chance to compete in one of the nation's top field hockey conferences. We are appreciative of the opportunity to compete on the road at the Virginia Beach Field Hockey Complex in Virginia Beach and we are ready to get this season started!"
Start times and television broadcast designations for Big Ten field hockey events will be announced shortly as they become available.
