University Park, Pa. — Penn State standouts Krissy Tribbett (Centennial, Colo.) and Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii) earned the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week awards on Monday (Oct. 11).
Tribbett notched an impressive 0.51 goals-against average for her two winnings performances at Northwestern (2-1) and Iowa (3-0). The redshirt-sophomore allowed just one goal while making six saves, including a career-high tying five in the shutout over Iowa. The award is Tribbett’s first Big Ten recognition and she is the first PSU player to earn defensive weekly honors since Emma Thomson (Nottinghamshire, England) garnered the accolade on Nov. 9, 2009.
Costa had her most productive game of the season at Iowa as the redshirt-freshman posted a goal and an assist. The three-point day helped lead the Penn State offense against the Hawkeyes as she provided the helper on Julie Hubbard’s (Waverly, Pa.) goal in the 44th minute. In the 81st minute, Costa iced the game with her second goal of the year to complete the 16th straight win over Iowa in as many tries. The Hawaiian native is the first to earn the award since Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) won the award on Nov. 2, 2009.
Penn State improved to 3-1-0 in Big Ten play as well as 5-7-1 overall. The two wins were the first back-to-back wins of the year and pushed PSU’s winning ways to four victories in the past six matches. The Nittany Lions welcome Minnesota on Friday for a 7:00 p.m. match before a Noon clash with Wisconsin on Sunday.
