Field Hockey hosts power Penn State

The Penn field hockey team faces another nationally ranked opponent when it faces Penn State tonight. Stiff competition. That is all the Penn field hockey team has seen this season. Tonight at 7 p.m. will prove no different, as the Quakers (7-6) will take on the seventh ranked team in the nation, Penn State (13-4). "On paper there is no question that [Penn State] is a lot better than us," Penn coach Val Cloud said. Paper doesn't lie. Besides being a nationally ranked team who has sustained an incredible 21-game home winning streak, the Nittany Lions have two nationally recognized players in senior Dawn Lammey and sophomore Maegan Galie. Lammey averages three points per game, having a total of 45 points and 15 goals this season. She is the country's sixth leading scorer and is ranked fourth in the nation in total points. Galie, who averages 2.13 points per game, rallied 32 points this season and scored 11 goals. She is the 19th leading scorer in the country and ranks 13th in total points. The scoring exploits of this Penn State dynamic duo greatly overshadows Penn's scoring, which is led by Ivy League Player of the Week Maureen Flynn who has 20 points. "The strength of [Penn State] is that they are so balanced," Cloud said. "There is real leadership from the seniors and a lot of talent under [the seniors]." Strength, leadership and talent are three key ingredients that have lifted Penn State to their national ranking. On the flip side, it is namely strength from within that has helped the Quakers rise to the occasion when they face teams of the same caliber as the Nittany Lions. The Red and Blue played two nationally ranked teams so far this season -- the University of Delaware and the University of Maryland. Although the Quakers lost to both teams, they dealt both teams a struggle. The first was the Quakers' persistence to score against Delaware. Until Delaware faced the Red and Blue, no team had scored more than one goal against it on its home turf. The Quakers scored three. However, it was not enough to bring home a win as Delaware scored five. The battle against Maryland did not involve as many goals. Penn lost 5-1, however, they did hold the Terrapins to a 1-1 tie in the second half. Although both teams ultimately dominated on the scoreboard, the Quakers did not collapse under the pressure of competing against nationally ranked teams. Instead, they rose to the occasion by making Delaware and Maryland earn their victories. "[Penn] left those games feeling good about themselves. They were moral victories," Penn assistant coach Donna Mulhern said. Tonight, the Quakers will add one more nationally-ranked team to their schedule. But if there is a twist to the Quakers' trend of stiff competition tonight, it is that this matchup is an intrastate match-up. "Every year it is a good rivalry for us," Cloud said. The mixture of top notch competition and state rivalry might be the magic formula the Quakers need to bring home their first win against a nationally-ranked team.