12 1 TUESDAY, SEPT. 14, 2010 Freshman a bright spot despite losses By Alex Angert COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The final results were the same, the win column still only reads one and the losing streak continues. But for the first time in five games, Penn WOMEN'S State women's SOCCER soccer players walked off the field on Sunday with their heads held high. Despite losing to both Washington and No. 4 Portland over the weekend to extend their losing skid to five games, the Nittany Lions head home from the Pacific Northwest with a sense of optimism after standing strong against two tough, skilled oppo nents. The team can thank Maya Hayes for helping make its flight back to State College a little more positive. On Friday, the freshman for ward tallied her first career goal and she followed it up on Sunday against a highly ranked Portland squad by contributing on both goals in the defeat drawing a penalty kick Christine Nairn Women's soccer By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER In most cases, a 4-2 defeat to the No. 4 team in the country would be just that a loss. But that loss also featured a 2-1 WOMEN'S lead over a top SOCCER ranked squad and forced that team into a gut-check comeback Yet, for as much resiliency as the Portland Pilots showed by reeling off three goals in 13 minutes, the Penn State women's soccer team showed just as much staying in the game. "Even though we didn't get the two wins [this weekend] we learned a lot about ourselves and what we have to do to look forward Field hockey team looks to avenge 'O9 loss to Lafayette By Joe Mclntyre COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Before last year's overtime defeat to Lafayette, the Penn State field hockey team had gone 30 straight games a span of 2,194 days between FIELD HOCKEY losses to a fellow Commonwealth foe. The last loss to a Pennsylvania squad before last year's game came back in 2003. The opponent? Once again, Lafayette in overtime. Their current streak now stands at three straight wins against teams from the Keystone State in a time span of just less than a year. A far cry from what it was, but if the Lions want to get back to their dominance of Pennsylvania teams, the next club in their way is the team that ended their streak last year and six years before that —Lafayette. For whatever reason, Lafayette seems to be Penn State's intrastate kryptonite, and coach Char Morett and the Nittany Lions want to make sure the Leopards don't end their modest streak again. "Lafayette's a strong team, we lost to them in overtime last year," Morett said after the team's victo Jets under scrutiny with By Dennis Waszak ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER NEW YORK -- After a summer in the spotlight, the Jets are under scrutiny again. The "Hard Knocks" stars are being investigated by the NFL for the way Jets players and coaches carried on when they were visited by a female reporter from a Mexican TV network during the team's practice Saturday. Ines Sainz, of Mexico's TV Azteca, said on, her Twitter account Saturday that she felt "very uncomfortable!" in the Jets' locker room, where a few players let loose with some "Whooo-weee!" catcalls as she waited with two male co-workers to interview quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is of Mexican descent. "Of course you feel it when you are being stared at and when you are being spoken of in a certain way," Sainz told The Associated Press. "I opted to ignore it ... I tried to not even pay attention." She tweeted in Spanish on scored on, as well as chipping one in herself. "Maya Hayes created both opportunities for us," coach Erica Walsh said following Sunday's loss, "and she was amazing." Hayes's success this weekend is no surprise looking at her num bers this season. The freshman is now tied for first on the team with five points on two goals and an assist, and she is tied for second with seven shots on goaL However, it is her determination and commitment to improving that is earning her rave reviews from the rest of the team. "It's all happened through just more work ethic," Walsh said. "She's working a lot harder and she's working on both sides of the ball. She's creating chances off of pressuring the defense. That's making a big difference in her game." Hayes, who started the season playing midfield, has responded well to playing forward. Despite her team's recent struggles, Walsh said it's been a move that has paid off thanks to the fresh man's ability to get past oppo nents' backlines. and be better," sophomore mid fielder Christine Nairn said. "We walked off the field [Sunday] and even though we weren't happy with the final score we were happy with our effort." It doesn't make a lot of sense that this Nittany Lions team, mired in a five-game losing streak, would be positive. They're not happy with the results, but they haven't given up yet either. Friday night, in the team's 2-1 loss to Washington, the Lions fought back and mounted a seri ous threat in the last 10 minutes. Penn State coach Erica Walsh said "They like to get pressure on you right away so we need just a little more speed on transferring the ball to catch them down the sidelines and hopefully better corner execution." ry on Sunday against Lock Haven. "They're very fast as well. They like to get pressure on you right away so we need just a little more speed on transferring the ball to catch them down the sidelines and hopefully better corner execu tion." Last season's defeat at the hands of Lafayette was the last of the team's four game losing streak and senior forward Jenny Purvis said losing the game in overtime was one of, if not the toughest loss of the season for the team. "It was a turning point for us," Purvis said. "Definitely one of the most painful parts of the season for us." lb avoid falling to the Leopards again, Purvis said the team has been focusing on its conditioning in practice. She said it's some thing the team needs to work on if it wants to keep up with the speed of Lafayette. Along with being well-condi tioned, another aspect of the Saturday night that she tried "not to look anywhere!!" "It was an uncomfortable moment because you are in the team's dressing room and they are obviously changing clothes, show ering - doing what they do every day in the locker room," Sainz said to the AP "So being a woman, obvi ously it was a bit uncomfortable." Saint also thanked supporters Monday on Twitter for their con cern. "I already spoke to the NFL and it will be up to them to decide whether or not there will be con sequences!!" she tweeted. Sainz was at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Monday night and had a seat in the press box for New Yorks sea son opener against Baltimore. During defensive back drills on Saturday, Jets assistant coach Dennis Thurman seemed to delib erately throw to players near where Sainz was standing on the sideline. Even linebacker Jason Taylor, who normally doesn't par ticipate in those position drills, went out for a pass. SPORTS Fbr her teammate Nairn, it was only a matter of time for Hayes to succeed collegiately. The two played together on the U.S. U-20 Women's National team, and Nairn has taken a proactive role in helping her teammate adjust to the college game. "Fve personally had a couple of conversations with Maya because I am pretty hard on her during the games and during practices," Nairn said. "I think she is finally buying into the system and work rate." With club and college soccer being two completely different games, Nairn said she is seeing Hayes hustling and running more instead of relying on her tech nique and skill. At this current level, Nairn doesn't see a limit for her young teammate, who she added has been setting the bar for the for ward spot so far this season. "I think she is definitely a spark plug for what we came away with this weekend," Nairn said. "I know I am really excited to play with her for the next couple of years." To e-mail reporter. adal47@psu.edu learns about themselves she liked the way the team battled on Friday and Nairn said the near rally sparked the team on Sunday. "[Portland] gave us everything we could handle," Walsh said Sunday night. "But I thought we showed great guts and battled really well against them and showed that we can really play against anyone in the country when we play" Throughout the weekend, the team's reserves continued to pro vide strong play off the bench. Nairn singled out defender Carly Niness, who stepped in when Lexi Marton went down with a knee injury Sunday, and midfielder Ali Schaefer for their play. Freshman Maya Hayes scored her first two goals for Penn State this weekend and was the lastest Char Morett Penn State coach Lions' game that needed improve ment was on penalty corners. Penn State had 19 penalty cor ner chances on Sunday against Lock Haven and failed to register much quality scoring chances off of them. And considering Lafayette is first in the Patriot League in goals allowed with seven, Penn State will need to take advantage of its offensive opportu nities when they get them. With the victory on Sunday, the Nittany Lions will look to start their first winning streak of the season and Purvis said the team can't wait to get back on the playing field, especially when there's a chance to beat an in state rival. "We're definitely excited to play them," she said. "Pennsylvania is one of the best playing states for field hockey and to beat Lafayette would be great for us." To e-mail reporter: Irms4ol@psu.edu reporter At the end of the drill, head coach Rex Ryan threw a pass to Thurman, who caught it, ran toward Sainz and appeared to speak to her very briefly. The Association for Women in Sports Media said a board mem ber spoke to Jets general manag er Mike Tannenbaum on Sunday about the reports. Also, team owner Woody Johnson spoke to Sainz, telling her "he expects all members of the Jets organization to conduct themselves in a professional man ner at all times," Jets spokesman Bruce Speight said. Sainz said she talked Sunday with NFL officials. "I don't want to make it a bigger deal," she said. "I have confidence in the NFL and the Jets' manage ment and I know that this will serve as a precedent so that this does not happen to another women." TV Azteca promotes Sainz both as ajournalist and as a modeL The networks website includes photo collections of Sainz and has an article in its "Bad Girls" section. Tom Ruane/Collegian Maya Hayes (5) heads the ball in a game against William & Mary. freshman to make an impact this season. Though she hasn't scored yet, freshman Taylor Schram tallied her first assist Sunday and has provided plenty of hustle plays in the midfield this season. "She's spent a lot of time in the midfield and has always played at the highest level in the midfield," Walsh said of Schram. "She played against Keelin Wmters, who was a captain of the U-20 team and a senior. and I thought Schram was outstanding in that role." The Lions face a totally different challenge this week. After spending the weekend in Portland, Ore., the team returned to State College on Monday, arriv ing late at night. Paul Posluszny (51) celebrates with a teammate in the preseason Former Lion Posluszny injured By John Wawrow ASSOSIATED PRESS WRITER ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills middle linebacker Paul Posluszny will miss about three weeks after the starter hurt his right NFL knee m a sea son-opening loss to Miami. Providing the update after practice Monday, coach Chan Galley didn't disclose any details of the injury, except to say tests revealed it wasn't as severe as first feared. There's a possibility Posluszny might not be back until Oct. 24, when Buffalo returns from its bye week to play at Baltimore. Posluszny was hurt while tackling running back Ronnie Brown on the opening play of the third quarter in a 15-10 loss Sunday. Trainers examined Baslusznys knee before the play er jogged to the locker room. He then returned a few min utes later wearing what appeared to be a brace. After testing his knee along the side line, Posluszny then walked back to the locker room. The injury is the latest setback for Buffalo's 2007 second-round pick out of Penn State. fie missed most of his rookie season THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Penn State takes on Bucknell at home Wednesday night, and the team will have only Tuesday after noon's practice to prepare. Nairn said she doesn't expect a sluggish practice, however, because of what she saw in her teammates as they were leaving the field Sunday. - With the way we played and the way things ended [Sunday] we're excited to get back in the swing of things and excited to go against Bucknell," Nairn said. "The good thing about this season is the games are so close and even if we didn't get the result against Portland. we have Bucknell Wednesday to kind of redeem our selves and try to get better." To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu with a broken left arm, and then missed four more games last year after breaking a bone in the same arm. The Bills are already thin at the linebacker position as they prepare to play at Green Bay this weekend. Akin Ayodele, signed last week after Kawika Mitchell was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury, and Keith Ellison are candidates to start in place of Posluszny. Starting outside linebacker Reggie Torbor did not play Sunday while continuing to recover from a chest injury. Galley said there's a chance Torbor could be ready to play this week. Gailey said reserve safety Cary Harris will not play this weekend after hurting his ham string against the Dolphins. The Bills also signed tight end Rob Myers to their practice squad. He replaces tight end DajLeon Fan; who was placed on the practice squad/injured list due to an undisclosed injury Listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Myers was available after being released by New England on Sept. 4. He split last season on New England and Philadelphia's practice squads. `~'
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