I FRIDAY, OCT. 29, 2010
Lions pla
By Andrew Robinson
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
F' Before his team took on the
University of Pennsylvania
Wednesday night, Matheus Braga
,;knew he was
going to get the
• next five days off MEN'S
to focus on recov- SOCCER
After the Penn
State men's soccer team topped
the No. 14 Quakers, Braga real
ized he was going to get 10 days off
from games instead.
Due to accumulating five yellow
cards over the season, the senior
midfielder will have to sit out the
Nittany Lions Nov. 2 game at
Lafayette.
However, he won't be alone,
thanks to the red card junior for
ward and NCAA leading scorer
Corey Hertzog received
Wednesday'
You've gotta take the positives
Field hockey season reminiscent of tourney team
By Joe Mclntyre
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Before the 2010 season began,
field hockey senior captain
Daneen Zug made some com
ments that, when looking at the
disa ointment of
the 2009 season,
may have seemed FIELD
slightly ralicu- HOCKEY
lous.
"I definitely
think we can go all the way," Zug
said in August. "With the talent
and motivation that we have I
think the national title is always
the goal. You can't sell yourself
short."
But looking back on a 2009 sea
son that yaw the Lions go an
abysmal 1 5 in the Big Ten and 7-
13 over :!, ; could have
lessened t ‘ir expectations.
Hopes of making a run in the
NCAA tournament appeared at
'test a ,:d.
But not any longer.
Corning off a weekend that saw
Men's basketball ready, eager for tough slate this season
By Alex Angert
STAFF WRITER
Tim Frazier was still an inexpe
rienced freshman when the Penn
State men's basketball team tray
-elect to Charlottesville to play
Virginia last year
Looking hack at the game, the
sophomore guard remembers
watching in awe as the stands
filled up and enthusiasm tadiated
„throughout the arena his first ever
Big Ten; AC(' Challenge.
This year. Frazier and his team
mates are hoping for that same
kind of atmosphere when the
Lions host Maryland in the hghly
anticipated home game.
g around suspensions to key players
out of this situation," Penn State
coach Bob Warming said. "Both of
those guys will benefit greatly
from 10 days off,
they're going to
have all 10 days off
and miss the
game, as well. But
you take the posi
tives out of it and
it gets them as
fresh as possible
for Wisconsin
then the Big Ten
tournament."
, ball," Warming
said. "Corey got
tripped on the -: -
side and was lay- '.
ing on top of the it '`"
ball and the refer- Yi',,
.0 • ee thought he -
stayed on top of -..,..,
„.
the ball too long
Hertzog was sent off after
acquiring two yellow cards against
the Quakers, which translates into
an automatic red.
The junior striker got his first
card for arguing with the official in
the second half then drew the sec
ond booking in a bizarre series of
events in the game's closing min
utes.
After getting tangled up with
Penn's Zach Barnett, both players
them beat then-No. 17 Duke and
then-No. 5 Princeton, if the No. 9
Nittany Lions were to miss out on
the NCAA tournament, the tour
ney may be missing one of its best
teams.
The Lions made the NCAA tour
nament championship game in
2007 and in retrospect, there are
some strong resemblances
between that 2007 team and this
year's squad.
The 2007 team lost to
Connecticut by a two-goal margin
at home, the 2010 team lost to
Connecticut by a two-goal margin
on the road. The 2007 team was
upset by Michigan on the road and
the 2010 team was upset by
Michigan at home.
The longest winning streak for
both teams was five and neither
a losing streak longer than
two.
But the two teams aren't neces
sarily mirror images of each other.
In fact, the 2010 team may have a
better resume than the 'O7 squad.
This year's team has beaten
The Dec. 1 showdown against
the Terrapins is just one of a num
ber of tough matchups filtered
throughout the Lions' nonconfer
ence schedule as the team is excit
ed about the early season chal
lenges.
"There's definitely some excit
ing games," Frazier said. "We're
playing some tough teams that a
lot of people predict to be No. 1 in
their conferences. It's going to be
fun. There's going to be a lot of
close games and hard fights."
The team is hoping these tough
matches prepare it for the long
run.
Along with the highly anticipat
ed game against Maryland, Penn
SPORTS
went to the ground and each drew
a card.
"Corey got his for lying on the
and gave him a Her t wg
second yellow
card. It was pretty silly actually."
Hertzog said he was trying to
milk time off the clock with the
Lions up just one goal against a
ranked foe, something he does in
every game.
The junior called it a "stupid yel
low," saying he shouldn't have
been called for it.
Both Braga and Hertzog said it
will be frustrating having to sit out
the next game. While the duo
won't be able to contribute against
two top-10 teams a road victory
against then-No. 7 Michigan State
and the home win against
Princeton. In 2007, the Lions had
only one win against a top-10 team
a 3-1 win against No. 6 Old
Dominion (by the way, the Lions
beat Old Dominion 4-0 this sea
son).
And barring a loss to unranked
Northwestern on the road on
Friday, the Lions will have a 4-2
conference record in 2010, com
pared to going 3-3 in 2007. The
Lions also had six losses through
16 games in 2007 compared to only
four this season.
Certainly the Lions are better
prepared for a long tournament
run this year, but the question still
remains, will the Lions even make
the tourney?
Coach Char Morett said with
conference tournament winners
receiving eight automatic bids, it
leaves Only eight at-large" bids.
And with the Lions sitting at No. 9,
she said it gives them very little
wiggle room.
State also faces preseason No. 23-
ranked Virginia Tech and
Mississippi, which is predicted to
finish second in the SEC West.
think the schedule sitting
here today is a very challenging
one," coach Ed DeChellis said.
"We are going to have to play well
early because we have good teams
corning in here to play. It's a very
challenging nonconference sched
ule. We've got teams in the SEC,
the ACC."
DeChellis added the team is
also excited to face challenging,
smaller programs that are expect
ed to win its conferences such as
Lehigh in the Patriot League and
Fairfield in the MAAC.
Lafayette, Hertzog said by going
hard in training, they can still help
the team.
"First thing Coach said to me
was he was disappointed in me at
the end of game," Hertzog said.
"But the first thing on the bus he
said was, Now you've got 10 days
to come out and score three goals
against Wisconsin so lets hope for
the best and take it as an advan
tage.' "
Braga said he had hoped to play
in every game during his last sea
son in State College, but the break
will let him rest his knee and back
injuries that have been lingered
throughout the year.
With two of the Lions' most
dynamic players out, it means a
little extra pressure on the
defense next game. Sophomore
centre back Brian Fbrgue said
he's aware of what the team is los
ing, but isn't worried about a drop
off.
`The best offense is a good
According to www.fieldhockey
corner.com, the Lions sit at No. 8
in the nation and third in the
Mideast Region behind UConn
and Syracuse. Their rankings are
comprised of average computer
ranking (ACR) which is based on
goal differential and win/loss
record, the ratings percentage
index (RPI) which is based on
win/loss records of both the team
and their opponents, and a
strength of schedule (SOS) com
ponent.
In 2007, the Lions sat at No. 7
overall and second in the Mideast
Region.
"[ln 20071 we went into the tour
nament with the most losses on
our record out of any team in the
tournament," Morett said. "But I
always felt throughout the year
that the team was consistently
competitive. We just improved
every game as the season went
on. I thought we were peaking at
the right time."
Morett said part of the reason
the Lions were so successful in
Last year, Penn State went 8-4
during nonconference play with
three of those losses on the road.
This season, the Lions will pri
marily play at home with only two
road games scheduled Ole Miss
and Virginia Tech.
Playing nine out of 11 noncon
ference games at home this year,
the players are hoping to start out
on the right foot at the BJC.
"One of our main goals is to be
undefeated at home," forward D.J.
Jackson said. "At the BJC we
always have a nice crowd and nice
showing. We want to come out
here and really protect our home
court and give them something to
cheer about."
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
defense so we're going to make
due," Fbrgue said. "We're going to
need some guys to step up and
really take over in the offense
third."
Both players said they expect
the rest of the team to step up in
their absence. Junior midfielder
Justin Lee said while it's tough to
replace Hertzog's 15 goals or
Braga's five goals and 12 assists,
there are other players capable of
scoring on the roster.
Braga noted forwards Treavor
Gelsinger and Jordan Tyler, along
with midfielders Drew Cost and
Mackenzie Arment as the players
who have proven they can make
the big plays.
"The whole team man, we have
a great team and all the guys are
on the bench, they're ready to go,"
Braga said. "And we have a bunch
of guys up top that can decide the
game."
To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu
2007 was because of their solid
defense and penalty corner suc
cesses. Two things the Lions have
plenty of in 2010.
"I think that they're peaking at
the right time, too. I think that
they're playing great defense and
I think our corners are great, so
those are some of the similari
ties,- she said. 'And I think that
definitely once you get in the tour
nament, it's who you're matching
up against, where you're playing
and how you're playing going into
the tournament."
The Lions will finish their regu
lar season schedule at 4 p.m.
Friday at Northwestern and begin
the Big Ten tournament next
Thursday back in Evanston, 111.
And apart from a loss against
the Wildcats on Friday, the No. 9
Nittany Lions appear to deserve
the same chance at championship
euphoria that the 2007 team did.
But that's up to the committee to
decide.
To e-mail reporter: Irms4ol@psu.edu
Even though the team is set to
play primarily at home before Big
Ten season, the Lions fully expect
it to be a grind during nonconfer
ence play. With the Big Ten set to
be one of the strongest, if not the
best, conference in college basket
ball, the Lions are hoping their
schedule will get them ready for
the tough road ahead.
think we have a very tough
schedule this year but it's only
going to prepare us for Big Ten
because it's one of the best confer
ences in the country," Jackson
said. think in order to be the
best, you have to beat the best."
To e-mail reporter: adal47@psu.edu