THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Icers hoping for extended By Steven Petrella FOR THE COLLEGIAN Ever since Scott Balboni took over as the Icers head coach, he has made efforts to get the Big Ten Network to cover his team and get them on the map. With the announcement of Penn State joining the NCAA Division I hockey ranks, the possibility of a Big Ten hockey conference and expanded cover- age on the Big Ten Network ICERS appears to be imminent However, the Big Ten Network wouldn't be forced to expand its coverage based solely on the emergence of Penn State's new program. Melanie Collins is a Penn State alum and is currently a correspon dent for the Nittany Lions on the Big Ten Network Collins said she believes a Big Ten conference is on its way within a few years, but the coverage will not be expanded until that conference is created. Smarter, simpler play contributes to victory passes as they have in the past, the Lions played with a much sim pler, methodical The Lions are a fast team. attack en route to Sometimes, a little too fast. the team's 3-0 vic- But Sunday against lowa, they tory. slowed things down and it "I feel like our worked. team is actually By Alex Angert COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Instead of relying on their strik- starting to play soccer now," red ers' speed and opting for long shirt sophomore Bri Garcia said. Freshman Tani Costa (22) defends a Virginia player earlier this season Women's soccer getting lift from reserve players By Andrew Robinson COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER The role of a reserve player is simple step on the field, fill in the designated position, don't let the level of play drop off and maybe add a little bit of produc tion. As this weekend proved, the bench players on the Penn State women's soccer team have the role down to a science. Whenever Nittany Lions coach Erica Walsh moves to make a substitution, she knows exactly what she will get. "Our reserves have been a major bonus for us this year," Walsh said. "Some of them are clearly pushing for playing time and we need to consider that but our depth is a positive for sure." Sunday afternoon in lowa City, the reserves provided all the scor ing in a 3-0 win over lowa. The high level of play the reserves have shown all season has also pushed the starters to work hard er and hold on to their jobs. From game to game, Walsh may turn to a different set of players depending on the matchup, a sign of just how deep the Lions are. Searching for an exciting career in the media or entertainment industries? Want to run your own online or mobile media business? The Telecommunications major can help you kind ytor and prepare you for a career in the digital age. A* Am, at companies like ESPN, MTV,GoogIe,NBC., Command follow those who have gone on to careers in media and mem law. tarn mare *tout the maim the vvide variety calmer apptetivaildes et the Tehmenveuniettione Worrnetioe Sesion. - 1 2 Timeldtty • at 7:00 prn in s . Buil "Everyone I have talked to is pointing in the direction [of a con ference]," Collins said. "Unfortunately, I think it will take one for us to cover it more." In a Sept. 16 press release, the Big Ten said that the addition of a Big Ten hockey conference is like ly in the future, but did not men tion anything about any type of expanded coverage. Five Big Ten affiliated teams already compete in NCAA D-I hockey. Wisconsin and Minnesota are in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan play in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. This year, the Big Ten Network will feature only nine hockey games, much different than its coverage of basketball, with every conference game broadcasted. Icers junior forward Kurt Collins, the brother of Melanie, said he believes the move of Penn State to D-I will have a positive impact on the coverage of NCAA hockey as a whole. Junior midfielder Ali Schaefer parlayed a strong turn on the bench into two starts over the weekend. "We've come together as a team and we don't see each other as starters or reserves, we're just one whole," Schaefer said. "The best part about this Penn State team is we do have so much depth to our bench and what that means is once that first, second, third and even fourth different bench player comes on the field it's just like the starters are in." Schaefer has played every mid field position off the bench this season, one example of the versa tility that needed as a substitute. At the top of the formation, the Lions can rotate forwards throughout the game, keeping the players fresh for key late situa tions. The reserves can also add dif ferent dimensions to Penn State's formation. Redshirt sophomore Bri Garcia has added crisp pass ing and possession over the last few weeks after rounding into form a knee injury last season. Over the weekend, Walsh used her possession -minded players to Stay up to date on deadlines "It's going to shift the whole make up of college hockey," the Icers forward said. "It will create so much buzz, the Big Ten Network will have to cover it more to compete with ESPN, or Comcast, or whoever's covering it." Kurt Collins also said the announcement has given his team additional attention so far this sea son. The Big Ten Network fea tured the Icers on its Big Ten Tailgate program last week. He said he believes the Big Ten Network will track the leers' progress in some way over the next two seasons before the team moves to D-I in 2012-13. His sister said she believes the Big Ten Network will keep an especially close eye on the Icers in these next two seasons of ACHA competition. "I think they will have some thing on the progress of the con struction of the arena," Melanie Collins said. "The coverage will gradually get greater as the move gets closer." "We're not getting it and kicking it down. If we just keep playing smart, playing simple and playing the soccer we WOMEN'S SOCCER know how to play, it's only going to get better from Many times this season Penn State has become too complacent, send ing the ball down field and hoping one of its speedy frontline players would chase it down. Here and there, an occasional goal has been scored that way, but typically it's been the short game that has provided the most for tune. Earlier in the season against Bucknell, the Lions worked as a cohesive team and used the short passing attack to give their fast frontline players better opportuni ties. In the 5-1 win over the Bison, Penn State's forwards tallied four of its five goals off of short passes, which was the only time it scored more than two goals in a game this season. Sarah Finnegan/Collegian That is until Sunday when the Julie Hubbard (24) heads the ball downfield during the Blue-White intrasquad match earlier this season grind out wins instead of repeat- where it has multiple games. In level," sophomore edly trying for lightning-strike the junior's eyes, every player that Maddy Evans said. offense on long balls. Redshirt comes off the bench brings a cer- "They're definitely doing their freshman Tani Costa and sopho- tain energy and willingness to give jobs and it's a huge asset to our more Julie Hubbard both scored their all for whatever amount of team because every single person Sunday, and got extended minutes time they're going to play. has proved they can do what they because of their technical ability "Every single player who comes need to do the second they come on the ball. off the bench has provided that in." Schaefer said the depth helps spark and either maintained the the team, especially in weekends level or brought it to the next To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu SPORTS Garcia hockey coverage Icers forward Kurt Collins (right) is hit by URI players last season Lions used the same strategy. "We just started passing," Garcia said. "Usually what we do is we get it and look up and see if we can get Dani Toney or Maya Hayes with the ball up top and see if they can run. But today we had a lot of different combinations of players who can keep the ball and find that penetrating through ball to somebody" That was the difference in the team's dominating victory over lowa. And as great of athletes as Toney and Hayes are, relying on their speed to score a goal every time wasn't working. By not foreing balls and trying out different lineups through the game, Penn State's offense ironi cally came alive by slowing down. This simplistic strategic approach led to three goals all by players who aren't known for their speed. Garcia scored on a header off of a corner kick, and Julie Hubbard received a through ball from Tani Costa at the end of the first half to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Costa continued to benefit from the slower pace in the sec ond half by scoring off a cross by Hubbard. Behind a simpler attack TUESDAY, OCT. 12, 2010 I 9 emphasizing the short passing game, the Lions came out on top, and Costa earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. "To be honest, the pace of the game was a little bit slower and there was space in front of the backline for [Costa] to play," coach Erica Walsh said. "She did the best job of using that space and it's kind of her strength." Abandoning hope that the team's speed would lead to the razzle-dazzle play on a long pass, Garcia said the players displayed confidence in their passing ability. Garcia added the key was play ers had faith in each other that something good would happen. Instead of just clearing it down, she was impressed by their chem istry in the passing game. "We weren't forcing balls," she said. "If nothing was on we'd pull it back, go to the middle of the field, spring it out to the other side and we'd try to attack from that side. I think that was definitely a big dif ference for us, especially between our past games and [Sunday's] game.'"-IN To e-mail repbrterr9At►l47@psu.edu Tyler Sizemore/Collegian midfielder
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