Penn State Sports Magazine
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O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 51 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Another reason for the team's early success is keeping Coffey and senior defender Kerry Abello around for one more season. Both were selected in the National Women's Soccer League draft in January, but they felt that another season in the Penn State program would only help them reach their goals in pro- fessional and international soccer. "When you talk about standard bear- ers, you talk about the U.S. Women's National Team," Dambach said. "So [it was helpful] for me to come back and talk to Sam Coffey about Julie Ertz and Rose Lavelle, players who are in places where she wants to be someday "Kerry Abello, who had an opportu- nity to go pro this fall, decided to come back and be part of our program for an- other go-round. "There's still so much more they can learn in this environment, and I think they see and feel that based on my ex- perience." As important as bringing back a pair of aspiring international players was, the Nittany Lions' most important re- turnee is Dambach herself. She's led them to 14 consecutive NCAA tourna- ment appearances, four Big Ten tourney championships, two College Cup finals and a national title in 2015. Athletics director Sandy Barbour said in August that Dambach's success at Penn State has its roots in more than just her tactical prowess and proven ability to develop international-caliber talent. The Huntingdon Valley, Pa., native also has fit seamlessly into the Nittany Lions' athletic culture, Barbour said, and finds ways to hold to those values even as the world of college athletics changes around her. "She believes in who we are and what we stand for, what our values are," Bar- bour said. "She recruits the right young women. She demands excellence from them, athletically, academically and so- cially, and she's not afraid to hold them accountable. She's not afraid to hold herself accountable. "And she's not afraid to evolve. She's not the coach today that she was 15 years ago, and student-athletes aren't the same as they were 15 years ago. She and her staff — she's got an incred- ible staff, she's surrounded herself with great people — are not afraid to evolve and do it in a way that benefits stu- dents. "Here at Penn State, when you ben- efit students, you benefit the university and you benefit the community. Erica is absolutely one of our finest." One of the values that Dambach has imprinted on the program is a desire to compete at the highest level. The pro- gram's continual Big Ten dominance has been gratifying, but the ultimate goal is to win national championships. Penn State didn't do that this past spring, falling to Florida State, 3-1, in the third round of the NCAA Tourna- ment. Even though the Seminoles were seeded No. 1 and took 32 shots to the Nittany Lions' two, the loss was bitter. The Lions had jumped out to an early lead before the Florida State shooting spree proved too much to withstand. That's where the resilience comes in. The Lions may have been disappointed with their finish last May, but they were able to quickly regroup and turn their loss into motivational fuel. "We ended the spring season with a bit of hunger and bite to achieve more," Dambach said. "This group took a little bit of a break, but then they got right back in it. Many of them came back to Happy Valley to train with our strength coach this summer. Now they're geared up and fit and ready to go." ■ WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL The Nittany Lions won five of their first eight matches but went 0-3 against ranked opponents in that span, including a pair of losses in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge Sept. 10-11 at Oregon. Against the Ducks, Penn State got 10 kills from senior right-side hitter Jonni Parker and eight from sophomore middle blocker Allie Holland, but 23 attack errors proved costly in a sweep by the 11th-ranked hosts. The Nittany Lions fared better the next night, splitting the first two sets against No. 14 Stan- ford. The Cardinal then scored 10 of the final 12 points in the decisive fifth set to earn a 3-2 vic- tory over No. 18 Penn State. The Lions opened their season with a 3-1 loss to No. 24 Georgia Tech on Aug. 27 in Orlando, Fla., before rolling to three-set victories over St. John's, UCF, Iowa State, Oregon State and LSU. FIELD HOCKEY Penn State headed into the start of its Big Ten season with a 5-0 record and the No. 9 ranking in the National Field Hockey Coaches Associa- tion poll. After opening with a 3-2 overtime vic- tory at Virginia, the Nittany Lions reeled off wins over William & Mary (7-2), St. Joseph's (3-2), Albany (3-1) and Delaware (3-0). In the shutout victory over the Blue Hens, junior goalkeeper Brie Barraco had six saves, while the Nittany Lions got goals from senior defender Anna Simon, sophomore midfielder Sophia Gladieux and junior midfielder Makenzie Allessie. "We knew this game was going to be a track meet coming in," coach Char Morett-Curtiss said. "At halftime, we said we wanted to con- tinue to push the pace because we believed we could begin to pull away. Our pace gave us more opportunities in the second half, and we took advantage of them." The Nittany Lions opened their conference season Sept. 18 at Maryland. MEN'S SOCCER Victories over American and Penn lifted Penn State to a 3-1-1 start. The 17th-ranked Nittany Lions gave up early goals in both games, only to come storming back. Hosting American on Sept. 6, Penn State fell behind in the 13th minute after giving up a goal on a turnover. The Lions responded with goals by junior midfielder Andrew Privett, sophomore midfielder Peter Mangione and senior forward Daniel Bloyou to earn a 3-1 victory. In a 2-1 win at Penn four days later, junior forward Liam Butts scored the winner, the sixth of his career, in the 80th minute off an as- sist from junior defender Alex Stevenson.. "That was a well-earned road victory against a very determined Penn team," coach Jeff Cook said. "I'm tremendously proud of our student-athletes for their resilience to get back into the game and an outstanding late goal by Liam Butts." With the wins, Penn State bounced back from a 3-1 defeat at West Virginia on Sept. 3 in which it was forced to play shorthanded for nearly 70 minutes after junior defender Jalen Watson picked up a red card. — Matt Herb O L Y M P I C S P O R T S R O U N D U P