—The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Oct. 19, 1988
Stickwomen to entertain Ursinus
By 808 LIPSKY
Collegian Sports Writer
The 11th-ranked field hockey
team (9-3-1) will host Ursinus at 3
this afternoon in a key Mideast
Regional matchup at Lady Lion
Field.
The squad, 4-1 in the region, will
try to bounce back from last Fri
day's 1-0 overtime loss at Penn. And
a win would greatly boost the Lady
Lions' chances to win the region
and earn an automatic bid to the
NCAA Tournament.
Connecticut, a team that beat
Penn State 4-0 earlier in the year, is
on top of the region, while the Lady
Lions are a close second.
Senior forward Tami Worley real
izes the importance of today's con
test.
"We need a win going into this
weekend because we have a big
weekend coming up," she said. "We
have to get our confidence back
before we play New Hampshire and
UMass."
Coach Charlene Morett also
hopes a win today will carry over to
the weekend.
"Against Ursinus we're looking to
dominate the entire 70 minutes,"
she said. "We want to play well
(today) to get us on a roll for the
weekend.-
The team will travel north for a
pair of games this weekend. New
Hampshire has a 2-7-1 mark, but
several of its losses have come to
nationally-ranked teams. Massa
chusetts will be the big test for the
squad. UMass starts the week with
an impressive 12-1-1 slate and is
ranked N 0.4 in the nation.
On Sunday, the Lady Lions will
have to contain Tania Kennedy,
who leads UMass in scoring with 11
goals and one assist. Goalkeeper
Cindy Cox leads a stingy defense
with a 0.28 goals-against average
and 58 saves.
Morett knows the squad still has
several strong teams remaining on
its schedule.
"UMass will be very tough," she
said. "They lost, in overtime, to Old
Penn State defender Kathy Klein (in white) passes the ball to a teammate during a recent Lady Lion game with
Bucknell. The 11th-ranked Lady Lions play host to Ursinus today at 3 at Lady Lion Field.
Dominion (the top team in the na
tion), but they are a very strong
team this year.
"(New Hampshire) is always a
tough game and West Chester is
going to be a tough game," Morett
added.
Against Ursinus last season, the
squad found itself behind 2-0 at
halftime and needed a miracle to
avoid an upset. That miracle came
in the form of three second half
goals from Worley to give the Lady
Lions a 3-2 come-from-behind victo-
ry. The hat trick was the first of
Worley's career.
In the recent history of the series,
Penn State holds an overwhelming
advantage over Ursinus. The Lady
Lions haven't lost since 1977 and are
11-0-1 over the span.
Morett has the team working on
ball-handling drills to tune up for
the contest.
"We need to play a possession
(game) aggressively," she said.
"We've been playing possession
tentatively, and we want to play
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40 1 1 i,
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more aggressively where we're
eliminating defenders with posses
sion.
"We've been passing the ball off
for the sake of passing it off, not to
pass it off to beat somebody."
The Lady Lions enter today's
contest unbeaten on their home turf
this season. The squad has com
piled an impressive 5-0-1 record at
Lady Lion Field.
"We have a very good crowd and
that makes a big difference," mid
fielder Lynette Kidder said.
PENN STATE
Collegian PhotolCristy Rickard
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Gretzky makes his
return to Edmonton
By The Associated Press
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) In
an atmosphere similar to that which
surrounded the announcement of his
trade to the Los Angeles Kings two
months ago, Wayne Gretzky returned
yesterday to Edmonton's Northlands
Coliseum.
haven't really been looking for
ward to this," Gretzky said during a
news conference in the building
where he helped build a hockey pow
erhouse for 10 years.
His every word was recorded by
television cameras and by about 200
media representatives. It was remi
niscent of a playoff final, not an early
season NHL game.
"It's another situation where all
eyes will be on me. It's only game
seven of the season and it's on nation
al television," Gretzky said. "Every
body will be watching me."
Gretzky, generally regarded as the
greatest player in NHL history, was
traded to the Kings on Aug. 9 in one of
the biggest transactions in sports
history. Through six games, the
Kings of Gretzky and former Oilers
Marty McSorley and Mike
Krushelnyski lead the Smythe Divi
sion with a 4-2 record. The Oilers,
winners of four Stanley Cups in the
Gretzky years, are third with a 2-2-2
mark.
"I think when the game comes, I'll
be more nervous. There are too many
things going on that I have to deal
with before the game," Gretzky said
during the one-hour news conference.
Gretzky noted that tonight's game
will actually be the second time he's
played at Edmonton for an opposing
team. The first was in 1978, as a 17-
year-old rookie with the Indianapolis
Racers of the World Hockey Associa
tion.
"I remember it well. I scored my
first two professional goals that
night."
Gretzky played only eight games
for Indianapolis before being traded
to Edmonton.
Gretzky said he knew the cele
brated trade was coming, even as he
about application materials, contact—
Donna Ricketts, Summer Abroad Programs
409 Keller Conference Center
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-1743
helped the Oilers win their second
straight championship last spring.
The trade actually was set in mo
tion, he said, when he signed a five
year contract in September 1987.
That deal would make him a free
agent at age 31 and "in a position that
everyone wants to be in, to be paid
full market value."
Gretzky said having that power
didn't mean he would choose to leave
Edmonton, but that the Oilers inter
preted it that way.
"When I signed the contract, I
knew the Oilers wouldn't like that and
I knew something was going to hap
pen in the course of those five years.
When I agreed in September, I fig
ured that would be my last year. I
knew I was gone."
Gretzky remains visibily upset
over post-trade comments by Oilers
owner Peter Pocklington, who accus
ed Gretzky of staging his tearful exit
from the city and of having "an ego
the size of Manhattan."
"In 10 years here, the organization
was good to me and I think I did a few
things for them," Gretzky said.
"They taught me a lot, helped me
through my life. But I don't have
anything to say to that man after the
comments he made. Some of the
things he said left a sour taste. But I
don't get mad. I get even."
Because the opponent is Edmonton,
Gretzky said he'll have to approach
the game differently.
"Because every other game I've
ever gone into ... I've disliked who
I'm playing against because I want to
win," he said. "It's tough in this
situation because I know the players
and like a lot of them."
Oilers coach Glen Sather, who op
posed the trade that cost him the
eight-time league most valuable play
er, now finds himself in a position he
had enjoyed forcing upon other teams
finding a way to stop the Great
One.
"I'm not playing against him so it'll
have nothing to do with coaching,"
Sather said. "It's what the players do
against him. I'll do the same every
one else does: hope and pray."
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