I Friday, Dec. 3, 2010
leers confident for marquee series
By Greg Garcia
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
So far, it hasn’t been the easiest
of roads for the No. 11 Penn State
leers.
The first half of the schedule
was no easy test, as the leers
faced off against four teams
ranked within the ACHA’s top-25.
In those games, the leers went
head-to-head against No. 21
Central Oklahoma, the team that
prematurely ended Penn State’s
season in last year’s ACHA play
offs, and other bitter rivals, includ
ing No. 8 Rhode Island.
Battled by injuries, inconsistent
play and lacking a consistent
starting goalie, head coach Scott
Balboni’s squad has gone an ordi
nary 4-4 in those games.
Now, with No. 4 Delaware slated
this weekend, the leers (11-4-0, 2-
2-0 ESCHL) realize how important
this home two-game series is, with
Friday night’s action getting start
ed at 9 p.m. and Saturday’s con
test at 3:30 p.m. in the Greenberg
Ice Pavilion.
“It’s the biggest weekend we
Ice Lions ready to face opponents in showcase
By Lauren Henderson
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
The Penn State Ice Lions will
take on three _________
teams in three ,„ c . mwc
days this week- LIUNS
They will take part in the Mid-
Atlantic Collegiate Hockey
Association (MACHA) Showcase
in Warwick, Pa.
The MACHA Showcase fea
tures teams from Temple, Rowan,
Saint Joseph's, Monmouth, East
FIFA decision on Qatar leaves empty feeling for U.S.
By Andrew Robinson
If you would, please look at
the mug shot accompanying
this column.
Clearly, you can
tell I’ve been beat
up a few times as
my grotesque vis
age proves, and
by that reasoning,
I know what a
hard punch to the
gut feels like
Well, I got one
of those
Thursday morning when I saw
which nation received the 2022
World Cup bid.
You know, the one I wrote
about just a few days ago and the
one I was sure the United States
was going to win.
But, for about the 8,637 th time
in my life, I was wrong.
In a bit of a surprise, the tiny
Middle Eastern nation of Qatar
will play host to the World Cup in
2022, while Russia won the rights
to the 2018 Cup.
Qatar destroyed the United
MY OPINION
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No. 11 Penn State leers vs.
No. 4 Delaware Blue Hens
When: 9 p.m. tonight, 3:30
p.m. Saturday
Where: Greenberg Ice Pavilion
have had all season long," assis
tant coach Josh Hand said.
“I think positives will come out
of this weekend no matter what.
We’ll get a good grasp of where we
stand.”
The Blue Hens (16-0-1, 5-0-1)
are no strangers to the leers.
Throughout the team’s history,
the leers have faced no other
opponent more with Friday night
marking the 95th time.
Delaware has got off to a fast
start this season helping elevate
itself to a top-5 team.
The Blue Hens have still yet to
lose a game in regulation, with
their lone loss coming in overtime
to Rhode Island.
Junior forward Paul Dalev
Carolina, The College of New
Jersey and Penn State.
"It allows us to see other teams
in our league." coach Rvan
Behnken said.
At 7:30 tonight the Ice Lions (7-
4-2) will face the No. 13-ranked
Rowan Profs at The Rink in
Warwick, then will face St. Joe's
and Temple on Saturday and
Sunday, respectively.
The Ice Lions faced Rowan in
their last game on Nov. 19. and
defeated the Profs, 4-3.
Sophomore goalie Ryan
States by a 14-8 margin in the
fourth round of voting for 2022
“We go to new lands," FIFA
President Sepp Blatter said
Thursday after the announce
ment.
Neither Russia nor Qatar has
ever hosted a World Cup, and
while I can understand the
Russia bid, something about
Qatar doesn’t sit right with me.
It might be the fact the country
has a total area of 4,416 square
miles, which means it could fit
inside the state of Connecticut.
3&.
Jt
In its bid, Qatar promised to
build nine brand-new stadiums,
as well as refurbish three existing
structures to provide the venues
for the Cup.
That’s 12 stadiums, each of
which will cost at least several
million dollars, inside an area
smaller than the 48th largest
state in the U.S. that will probably
see zero use after the World Cup
is over.
Seems a little ridiculous to me.
As the host nation, Qatar
receives an automatic bid into the
2022 World Cup and will be seed-
on Twitter!
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described the Blue Hens as fast
and skilled skaters.
He also described the impor
tance of coming away with two
wins.
“If we lose, we put ourselves in a
pretty big hole." Daley said.
“It would be an uphill battle
from there."
Daley and the rest of his team
mates will receive an extra boost
this weekend with the return of
three key players in sophomore
forward George Saad, junior for
ward Nick Seravalli and junior
defensemen Dan Loucks.
“George is our best player,”
Hand said.
“Getting him back can only be
positive. Seravalli will add offense
and Loucks will provide help on
defense. It's good to have them
back."
Throughout the week. Balboni
has focused on some of the small
er facets of the game.
The leers have worked on
bringing a positive attitude to the
“The intensity level has been
high all season, but we need to
De.Muth. who will be playing this
showcase in his hometown rink,
said. "We are a good team and we
could definitely beat them again if
we bring our game."
Behnken said his players know
exactly how each other are going
to play.
At 10:1."> a m Saturday the Ice
Lions will take on the Saint
Joseph's Hawks. They have yet to
face St. .Joe's this season but will
play them later on in January.
At 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon
the Ice Lions will take on the No.
ed at the top of Group A when the
draw is made
Qatar is the 113th ranked men's
national team in the world in the
current FIFA rankings and bar
ring some kind of absurd explo
sion of talent, won't make it out of
group play in 2022.
Playing in Qatar presents a fair
share of problems as well.
Because of its location, tempera
tures in Qatar will likely exceed
100 degrees during the day, when
the bulk of the games, and train
ing sessions for that matter, will
occur.
Qatar's government promised
state-of-the-art technology in its
bid to make sure players and fans
are kept cool.
Short of air-dropping a massive
air-conditioned dome over the
entire countrv 'which at this
point, I wouldn't entirely rule out),
I don't see anv feasible way that
happens.
FIFA medical chief Michel
D'Hooghe was said to be prepar
ing a report on playing in the
heat, but wouldn't take a stance
on the issue Thursday.
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Lynn McGowan Collegian
leers forward Eric Steniour (left) maneuvers around a defender.
kick it up a notch this weekend." • I've never faced Delaware
Daley said. "We’re pretty confi- when they were undefeated," he
dent." said. "This will give us a chance to
Senior forward and assistant see how good they really are. It’s
captain Tim O'Brien will make his basically do-or-die for us.
own evaluations after the two
game series
5-ranked Temple Owls. The Ice
Lions lost their second game of
the season, 5-1, against Temple.
Behnken, however, thinks his
team has improved since that loss.
"We are much better than we
were in the second game of the
season," the first-year coach said.
When asked what he thought
about his guys playing three
games in three days. Behnken
said most people say this is one of
the toughest sports physically
there is. and this is when time in
the gym spent conditioning will
It should be noted that
D'Hooghe was severely critical of
playing during the day, especially
in southern areas like Florida.
Texas and California, when the
World Cup was played in the U S.
in 1994.
"I have to think it over and dis
cuss it with people at the right
moment," D'Hooghe said in an
Associated Press story Thursday.
Wednesday, the United States
submitted a final bid, headlined
by speeches from actor Morgan
FVeeman, former president Bill
Clinton, MLS commissioner Don
Garber and U.S. midfielder
Landon Donovan who spoke
about watching an Argentina-
Romania match in California dur
ing the 1994 World Cup.
“After watching Argentina-
Romania play in the Rose Bowl, a
dream was born in me," Donovan
said in his speech.
"That dream was to emulate
my heroes on the world's biggest
stage, and five years later, I was
given that opportunity at the
FIFA Under-17 world champi
onship. Like me, my teammates
Kranich’s Jewelers Has
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To e-mail reporter: gjgso44@psu.edu
pay off, adding that his guys are
definitely in shape.
Behnken said he plans to rotate
the guys well, some of the guys
that play a lot on Saturday might
not play that much on Sunday.
Also featured in this Showcase
are three junior league teams.
Behnken said it gives coaches a
chance to scout future players,
and gives the coaches a chance to
see players they would not nor
mally see.
"We have to be the best team we
can be." Behnken said.
had been inspired by what had
happened in 1994."
Wednesday night. I watched
part of the United States U-17
men's team as it defeated South
Korea 2-1 in a friendly.
As I tried to explain to my
roommates why I was so excited
about the prospect of an event 12
years away. I turned back to the
screen and said, “We could be
watching some of these guys in
that World Cup on our home soil."
Now I know we won't be doing
that, but I'm more concerned that
the surge the U.S. team gave soc
cer after this summer s Cup will
fade.
"I think we are still going to see
the sport grow, except without the
target of 12 years from now for us
to grow toward." U.S. Soccer
Federation President Sunil Gulati
said on a conference call
Thursday.
I only hope he's right.
Andrew Robinson is a senior majoring in
journalism and is a Collegian's men's
and women's soccer writer. His e-mail is
adrso79@psu.edu