12 I Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Resilient play keeps Lions alive in weekend series By Alex Angert COLLEGIAN STAFF WRIlf R Penn State was down to its final out Trailing Cincinnati -bv two in Friday's season opener, the ninth inning started the worst possible wav with Penn State's first two hit ters striking out. But then Michael Glantz came to the plate and got a hit. And so did Louie Picconi. Up next was freshman Steve Snyder, in his first ever collegiate game, look ing for a fastball to connect with. Seconds later, the ball was skipping downi the Deßernardis right field line. Snyder was rounding first and the two Penn State baserunners were crossing home plate. Hume not shaking struggles since return from sickness By Tom Copain COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Perhaps nothing summed up the last two weekends for Teddy Hume more than when a Robert Morris player har ried 'to him releu in; Saturday. Hume was sent into the net and directly into the crossbar, which knocked the cage off the moor ings. He skated away from the net, but the collision serves as an anal og}’ for Hume's recent bad luck in net since the Penn State leers goalie returned from the flu. "He's trying to get that confi dence back and that flow back in his game,” Penn State coach Scott Balboni said. "Right now, it was a tough weekend for him because we didn't play that well defensive ly in front of him at all. So anytime he was making a mistake, it was obviously showing up on the scoreboard." Hume missed the first game Goalkeeper Cahill By Kurt Bopp COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Leading Colgate 13-4 after one half, Penn State women’s lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor decided to give sophomore goalkeeper WOMFN , S Dana Cahill WOMEN 5 some experi- LACROSSE ence. ===== But if Colgate thought it had new life against a fresh and young goalie, Cahill quickly proved the Red Raiders wrong. In just her second appearance this season for the No. 14 Nittany Lions, Cahill contained the Red Raiders and gave Penn State (3-1) a glimpse of its future. “Steph [Ellis] has done a great job. She did last season she HARDIE RETURN Abby Drey/Collegian Penn State freshman Warren Hardie returns the ball against Cornell on Saturday. After an elbow injury sidelined him for four matches, he went undefeated last weekend against the Big Red and the Lafayette Leopards. Hardie said the match allowed him to test his elbow before Big Ten play starts Sunday against Purdue. For the full story, visit psucollegian.com. BASEBALL with Rhode Island Feb. 5 with the flu but returned the next game and made 25 sav es in the leers' 5 1 win. But since that game. Hume has struggled to find rhythm. He allowed eight goals in the ESCHL Playoffs and three more Friday night. ICERS Balboni said after Saturday's game he wasn't sure if Hume would've played tins past weekend instead of Dan Ivanir or John Jay but decided to go with Hume to give him more work before nation als. But Hume gave up five more goals Saturday as the leers found themselves in a shootout with the Colonials before Penn State even tually prevailed 7 5. ”1 just think it's a combination of. sometimes mental lapses and sometimes being bad bounces.'' Hume said. "I don't think it's a JpjljL Tc catch the hates’ Css liev,s and notes ™ Collegian's T.\itter ’'fee started this season strong, and Dana's ready," Isidor said, if we ever need Dana, I have even con fidence to put her in. She's definitely j ' Cahill allowed j * only three goals I Ip*' and recorded i] <, jIH eight saves, bring- Jk total to 13. In five J|\ /m appearances last Cahill season recorded 11 saves. Isidor said she hopes to get Cahill more time this season and credits the goalie with helping the offense and the backfield. "She's played great in practice, too," Isidor said. "Our shooting has improved this year because we have two goalies who are so Just like that, the Nittany Lions fought back and tied the game with their last hope a trend all weekend as the young Penn State ballclub turned its hats inside out and upside down to rally in all three games, win ing two of them. "The team's clicking retd well." said first baseman Joey Deßernardis. who came through with the walk oft single three innings later in the opener. "We didn't give up once. We were down in eveiy single game, late in the game, and no one gave up." Like Deßernardis stud. Penn State didn't simply come back in the fifth or sixth inning to tie the game. Rather, the Lions made each of their comebacks in the eighth inning or later of even game this weekend. Each time. Penn State forced extra innings. In the first game, it w as the two-out triple in the ninth. In the second game, it was a sacrifice fly by junior Heath Johnson. And twitter.com Collegian Jeers ‘ORTS For the latest news and notes on the baseball team, follow the Collegian's Mm3T Twitter feed: twltter.com/TDC_Basebail in the third game, it was a leadoff home run by Ben Heath. “It’s not just resiliency,” said Heath, who had three home runs on the weekend. "We've got a lot of good players on our team. A lot of guys who fight and do what ever it takes to win.” Heath said the key to coming from behind is just having a roster of guys who come out to play nine innings and play hard until the final pitch. But it wasn’t just Heath and the offense that kept Penn State alive. It was the pitching staff, especially the bullpen, that made sure the offense had those opportunities late in the game. “Anytime he was making a mistake, it was showing up on the scoreboard.” Scott Balboni leers head coach rhythm thing. I'll get in it for a period, and then there will be a bad bounce like [Saturday], just deflects off of someone in front, goes right to their guy and buries it in the empty net." With the five goals Saturday. Hume's given up 16 goals in his last tour starts and 20 in the last five. However. Hume was victim ized by two fluke goals one of the goals bounced off the post and right on the stick of a Robert Morris player who scored in an open net. Despite the struggles, there's still no doubt Hume the ESCHL first team goaltender is the No. i goaltender entering the tourna- impressive "Dana and I have an interesting bond because we're the only two people on a team of 30 who can understand the position.” strong. Steph and Dana really push each other and work well together." Junior midfielder Laura Lesnick who posted a hat trick against Colgate agreed with isidor and has seen Cahill grow in her two seasons with Penn State. Lesnick said the goalie gives Penn State's offense different looks and opportunities than it is used to. "She has a different clearing style than Steph Ellis." Lesnick said. "She is more of a longer M3rissa Gutherz Collegian Penn State goalie Teddy Hume (left) defends the net during Friday night’s game at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion. ment this weekend. Team cap- was still relatively happy about his tains John Conte and Matt performance in net this weekend. Kirstein said it is important for the T thought it was a solid B." team to be playing well defensive- Hume said. "There are obviously ly in front of Hume. Conte added some things that I need to work that playing well enough that on. I need to be better about con- Hume can focus primarily on mak- trolling my rebounds. But. a lot of ing saves makes it easier for the it was bad luck and bad bounces, rest of the team. too. so you just gotta chalk it up to And even though he allowed that." eight goals this weekend and got a close run-in late Saturday, Hume To e mail reporter: tecso26@psu.edu in reserve role Steph Ellis senior goalkeeper clearer. That's definitely opened up our transitions. It's a different atmosphere, and she gives us dif ferent ideas." Cahill tries to tell her team mates things she notices during practice or games, whether it's a new spot to take a shot or different angle to attack from. Even when she’s not in net, she said she likes to contribute and help out when ever possible. Through 60 minutes of game time this season, Cahill has Penn State planning to work during break By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER If there is a dark side to playing soccer, it starts with the running. Add to that lifting, spin classes, individual ses- ——— mnrp WOMEN’S more running, cnrrFß and it starts to SOCCER wear a player down. Ali Schaefer has been to the edge several times over the last six weeks. “There’s been days where it’s been on the verge of exhaustion, where you know you can’t take another step,” the sophomore midfielder said. “So I would like to say they’ve pushed us to the edge on multiple occasions.” This week, at least, Schaefer and her teammates won’t have to worry about falling off that edge. After their initial six-week train ing cycle ended Saturday, the players on the women’s soccer team were given this week and next week off from formal train ing. However, while the players are looking forward to some time off, they still plan to get some work in. “It’s really good. We’ve really been training hard, we’ve been running hard, lifting hard,” sopho more defender Emma Thomson said. “We’re gonna take these few weeks, we’re gonna carry on run ning, but we’re gonna get our legs back a little bit.” The one thing all the players said they will enjoy most is sleep ing in. Practices are held early, and players had to get up around 6:40 a.m. every day. The Daily Collegian For instance, in the first and third games against Cincinnati and Notre Dame, fresh man Steven Hill was sent to the mound with two runners on and only one out. Both times once in the ninth and once in the 10th the young pitcher making his first two collegiate appearances got his team out of each jam to keep the games within reach. With the team's will to win shown during the first three games, coach Robbie Wine is excited about the possibilities going into the season. "For us to have that feeling already early is a good sign of a resilient ball club because we are going to fall behind." Wine said. "And we are going to have to battle back whether it’s early in the game, late in the game or just staying close. It's a good sign for a ball club to go through what they did." To e-mail reporter: adal47@psu.edu earned the respect of her coaches, teammates and her fel low goalie. "Dana and I have an interesting bond because we re the only two people on a team of 30 who can understand the position and what the demands are." Ellis said. “It's not like I mentored her. but we help each other." The senior Ellis was excited to talk about her young teammate and proud of the progress she's made and hopeful for Cahill's future. "I think Dana's going to walk out of here a very successful goalie with tons of accolades." Ellis said. "Nothing but great things are coming for her. " To e-mail reporter: kabs2ol@psu.edu Despite the fact they aren't required to do any training this week, the players expect to be in Holuba Hall working out. Freshman midfielder Maddy Evans said the excitement of get ting the spring season started is enough to keep the players work ing. “These past couple of weeks were incredibly hard but also incredibly worth it," Evans said. “Even though it's been hard, it’s been really fun, and we're looking forward to getting right back at it after spring [break].” Not having training next week, the players are able to go home. Goalkeeper Krissy Tribbett, who lives in Centennial, Colo., said she is excited to see her family over the break. A player's fitness level is inte gral to their ability to contribute on the field overthe course of a 45- minute half. When the season ended in November, the team did n’t have full training sessions until the spring started, prompting the high intensity of work to start the semester. After spending the beginning of the spring working on fitness, the players don’t want to lose what they’ve built up. After seeing their work pay off last Saturday, there’s more incentive to keep working this week. “We're all going to make it a goal to keep it where it's at just because of how much time and how much work we put into it," Evans said "It’s going to be really important because I think that helped us [Saturday!" To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu
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