I Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 leers make longest trip of season to face rival URI By Greg Garcia COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Tim O’Brien may have put it best when talking about this week end's series against rival Rhode Island. ■‘You don't have to get the guys pumped up tor this one." the sen ior forward said. "They know how big it is." The No. 8 Penn State leers will SCERS make their . - - - longest road trip of the season this weekend when they head to the Brad Boss Arena to face the No. 111-ranked Rams. The teams will face off at 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. Playing at the Brad Boss Arena will be no easy task for the leers (8-2-0. 2-0-0 ESCHLc The Rams (11-2-1. 2-1-1) have defeated even opponent for two seasons plajing Foster, Penn State men eye top spots at regional meet By Zack Feldman COLLEGIAN SE When Ryan Foster began run ning cross country for Penn Stan his team was not in this position. Ranked No. 2 in the Mid- Atlantic region. Penn State s men are a far shadow from their loth place ranking this time in 20. ip before their regional meet. But a returning frontline m Vince McNally and Kyle Daw son. and a middle pack Foster, junior Chris Cipro, senior Owen Dawson and .sophomore Danny Pawola Ryan Foster competes during the Oct. 16 Penn State National. Fully Furnished, Luxurious and Affordable Student Living gnrealty.com -119 S. Burrowes St., University Park- (814)238-1878 T /-vw (heck out The Daily Collegian's M vl 9 y Classified section or online tf±r h>r tiHlay's listing of employment “ . OicclltJ opjxmunites. real estate, and Z' - ''„ 11 Philly Area? cars in the Greater Philly Area! V—OlK^lall in front of their loyal fan base. The streak finally ended when the leers toppled their bitter rival in 2005. The leers and the Rams are extremely familiar with one anoth er Since 2002, the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League rivals have faced off 29 times, with the leers holding the edge 18-9-2. A key player in the series is URI sophomore forward Shawn Tingley. Tingley, a Division I trans fer from Providence, has already posted 24 points this season. His team-high 11 goals are good for fifth best amongst the ACHA. Junior forward Paul Daley said the team did not put much thought into Tingley. or any other individ ual plaver for that matter. He said the focus is on playing their own style of hockey and executing the team's systems. As far as the goalie situation, that has brought the team toward the top of the scoreboard all year, the team is optimistic about what they can accomplish Saturday afternoon at the Blue-White Golf Course, which kicks off at 1:15 p.m. I think wc could be as good as winning the region, but if we don't show up. we could be as low as fifth." Foster said. I think we're going to have a really good day. but it's going to be a dog fight." While the majority of the core lineup comes from a cross country background. Foster, a senior, has already made his mark in the record books in a separate event. ......... Foster, a native MEN S of Tazmania. CROSS Australia, earned COUTNRY the Australian national record and Penn State record with a 2 minute, )9.(> second 1.000-meter rate last indoor track season, in addition to resetting his own school record with a 1:47.32 800- meter race during outdoor, the second-fastest time by a collegiate runner in 2010. This season. Foster has placed in Penn State's top-five in all but one meet, with his best finish com- Tig recently at the Oct. 31 Big Ten championships. Foster did not run cross country' his freshman year at Penn State, instead running back in Australia. What brought Foster into cross Offira H° urs: Mon-Fri 8:30-5 Sat 11-4 SPORTS coach Scott Balboni said he has still yet to decide who will be start ing in net Friday. Last weekend, sophomore Dan Ivanir and fresh man Mathew Madrazzo split time replacing senior Teddy Hume. After a sluggish 5-3 victory last Friday against West Chester, which began ESCHL play, the leers made an attempt to change some things. The following night, the leers had an offensive surge by scoring 10 goals while dismantling the Golden Rams. Cera said the leers took on a dif ferent philosophy while playing on the ice. The new philosophy includes players knowing each others' roles, playing with non stop effort and looking to continue the productivity on every shift. "We have made good strides." Cera said. O’Brien and Daley agreed country initially w’as his desire to compete when he would other wise be training. “If I wasn't running [cross coun try], I'd be doing similar stuff any way.” Foster said. "It kind of works out well that I do training that’s really good for track season but lets me compete in cross country." Coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said mid-distance runners have suc ceeded often in cross country mostly due to the mental compo nent of transitioning. She added Foster's ability to put in the effort for the season as well as the sum mer beforehand is what makes all the difference. "Foster is a big strong kid w : ho likes to run 800 meters. It takes less than two minutes, and now he has to race and compete hard for 25 minutes." Alford-Sullivan said. "That's just tough determination. I’m very thankful for his efforts to step up and cover us, and step in and be a guy that can make a dif ference.” Foster said he began toward the bottom of Penn State's pack soph omore year, building himself up to this year, where he said his goal was to place in the top-seven every meet. His determination to improve in each meet sets him apart. "The difference is the mental toughness," Alford-Sullivan said. “Mostly, it's because he wants to be a part of the team and to make V *■'> Ist & 2nd rounds Saturday, November IJ3th 11:30 Penn Saturday's game was the team’s “Saturday was our best game,” best all-around thus far. Daley said. “Now we have play like Now, the leers will try to turn that for the entire weekend.” those last 60 minutes into 120 min utes of effort this weekend. Asit Mishra/Collegian Tim O'Brien (10) pushes himself through two Ohio University players. the team better." Alford-Sullivan said she believes Foster is back for his sen ior campaign to end his college experience with a full year of com petition. "With Foster he's ending his collegiate round, so he had a deci sion to make. Do I want to make a difference in cross country and tram for it this summer and put myself in the position to be a dif ference maker?" Alford-Sullivan said "He wants to have the best of it all for his final go, and that's what you've seen - good training, and just being a tough dude." Foster said he has seen a "boom and bust" cycle with the 2008 team advancing to the NCAA champi onships, then losing the majority of the team to graduation in 2009, when the team had only McNally as a representative at the NCAAs. The Mid-Atlantic region has proven to be among the toughest in the country, year-after-vear. The No. 27 Nittany Lion squad's main competition will come from No. 17 Princeton, the top-ranked team in the region, while unranked Georgetown enters third in the regional rankings. While Princeton might have a stronghold on the top spot, Alford- Sullivan said the team is looking forward to showing they belong in the conversation. "We deserve our second-ranked position in this region," Alford- are here at PENN STATE! vs. Syracuse Ist 50 Penn State students get in free with ID 2:00 Ohio State vs. Albany Sunday, November Uth 2:1)0 Finals Games at the Penn State FifW Hockey Complex Behind Wagner Building Sunday, November 1 The Daily Collegian To e-mail reporter: dgso44@psu.edu Sullivan said. “We’ve beaten Villanova twice. Georgetown had a rough go at their conference meet the last time they raced. Going into it, we’re the second best team, and we have to watch our back.” A top-two finish guarantees the team a spot at the Nov. 22 NCAAs. Even a third-place finish could net the team an at-large selection, though Alford-Sullivan said the team has little room for error. “We’ve got to run with one eye looking backward, because you’ve got great programs here, so the guys have no room for error,” Alford-Sullivan said. "If Villanova were to upset us, and I think they’re our closest con tenders for that second spot, I think that will help us quite a bit. If for some reason a Georgetown or a Navy upsets us, it’s going to kind of play on how the rest of the coun try goes.” Alford-Sullivan said the way the team’s results have come togeth er has been unexpected, but hope fully it will not be the last surprise of the year. “Across the board, the guys are rocking along,” Alford-Sullivan said. “The team’s achieved a lot this season. And they can continue to surprise me, and that would be awesome.” To e-mail reporter: zefsoos@psu.edu pj v i j ¥
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