UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State field hockey team will face an exciting slate this fall as the Nittany Lions will battle five squads that advanced to last year’s NCAA Tournament, including three of those opponents in Happy Valley, to highlight the 2012 schedule, which was announced by head coach Charlene Morett.
Penn State will have 11 regular season games at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex this year and will head to Iowa City, Iowa for this year’s Big Ten Tournament. The Nittany Lions have two scrimmages slated on Aug. 17 and 18. Penn State will take on the USA Under-21 Team in College Park, Md. and then will travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to face James Madison in the two scrimmages.
Looking to continue last season’s success, the Nittany Lions will open up the year with a pair of home games against two top-notch programs. As usual, the squad will open against Old Dominion, who earned a No. 2 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Two days later, the team will host the Virginia Cavaliers, who fell short of the NCAA Tournament last year but have a very storied program.
Penn State, who was swept by UConn last year in the regular season and NCAA Tournament, will look for revenge against the Huskies on Aug. 31 as it travels to Storrs, Conn. Penn State will then leave Storrs immediately to return home for a pair of home contests against Lafayette on Sept. 2 and Princeton on Sept. 6. The Tigers earned a berth into last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Lions will head back out on the road for a brief stint, squaring off with Temple. Penn State will then return home for two more home contests. The first of the two will come on Sept. 9 against Cornell. On Sept. 12, the Nittany Lions will host nearby foe Lock Haven. That will wrap up a stretch of six home games in Penn State’s first nine contests.
Preparing for conference action, Penn State will hit the road for back-to-back contests at Lehigh and Monmouth on Sept. 14 and 15 respectively. Following the quick trip, the Nittany Lions open Big Ten action with a pair of home games against Indiana on Sept. 21 and Michigan on Sept. 25. Penn State knocked off Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game last year at the PSU Field Hockey Complex.
Continuing Big Ten action, Penn State will head to Evanston, Ill. on Sept. 28 to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.
Penn State will return to its cozy confines on Oct. 7 and Oct. as it hosts Cal Berkley and Iowa. Penn State will then close out the regular season with two of its final three games on the road. The Lions will travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State on Oct. 19 before heading home on the 23rd to host Bucknell. Penn State will wrap up the regular season at Michigan State on Oct. 27.
The following week, Penn State will head to the Big Ten Tournament in Iowa City, which is slated to begin on Oct. 27.
For the first time since 1998, Penn State was crowned the Big Ten Tournament champions, after defeating the Michigan Wolverines on Nov. 6 in the tournament championship game. The Big Ten champion Nittany Lions finished the season with a 17-6 overall record and also earned an NCAA First Round victory over the Northeastern Huskies