Posts filed under ‘Other Penn State sports’
Penn State Soccer Beaten, 100-11
Last Friday night, the women’s soccer team celebrated senior night—and its 14th straight Big Ten title—with a 2-0 victory over Purdue. That was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t the only highlight of the night: At halftime, 11 members of the men’s soccer team took the field for a game against kids from Centre Soccer Association, the local youth league. (I coached my son’s U7 team in CSA this fall.) A ranked Division I college team playing against a bunch of kids aged 7-13—how could this be fair?
Well, the kids had a numbers advantage. 100 to 11, to be exact.
Someone finally posted video last night, and you can get a sense of how much fun this was to watch. The CSA kids won 3-2, thanks in part to the opening goal scored by Luke Fey, son of Brad ’95 and Denise ’95 Fey. Hoping this becomes an annual affair at Penn State men’s and women’s soccer games. It was a blast.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Women’s Soccer Streaks to Another Big Ten Title
The women’s soccer team Sunday won its tenth straight game, hammering Michigan 4-0 in Ann Arbor. It was impressive, but as consecutive wins go, it was nothing compared to the conference title streak the Nittany Lions extended this weekend: With the victory, Penn State secured its 14th straight Big Ten regular-season crown. Maya Hayes scored twice against the Wolverines, pushing her nation’s best goal total to 25.
The Lions close out the regular season Friday at home against Purdue.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
A Brush With Greatness at Jeffrey Field
Here’s what happens when I take my kids to Jeffrey Field to watch a soccer game, as I did Tuesday night for Penn State’s 2-0 victory over Penn: I try to pay attention to the action on the field while keeping one eye on my 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, who spend most of the time climbing the bleacher steps and hanging on the railings in an apparent effort to hurt themselves. They’re pretty good at it.
It was during one of my son’s forays up and over the rows of bleachers that an older gentlemen asked him if he was a soccer player. My son’s very 6-year-old response: “Well, I play on a soccer team.”
The conversation went on like this for another minute before the man said, “You know, I used to play goalkeeper on this field.”
Right then, I knew who he was. I couldn’t remember his name, but I was sure enough that I turned to my son and said, “This man was a national champion.”
When I got to the office Wednesday, my colleague Julie Nelson and I dug through some back issues of The Penn Stater before finding the ad that gave it away. The man talking to my son was Ron Coder ’51, the star goalkeeper on Bill Jeffrey’s 1950 and ’51 national title teams and an eventual U.S. Olympian. Coder and his wife Hope ’54 live at The Village at Penn State, and it was Coder’s appearance in an ad for The Village that I remembered. (And yes, at 83, he still looks like he could get out there and stop shots.)
My son is too young to appreciate stuff like this. But for me—as a soccer fan and an alum—it was a really cool moment. One of the great things about living here is the chance to soak up more of Penn State’s history. All the better when you encounter that history thriving in the present.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Ali Krieger on NPR
Ali Krieger ’07, who shot the winning penalty kick for the U.S. Sunday in a Women’s World Cup quarterfinal against Brazil, got some extended limelight when she was on National Public Radio the next day. You can hear the interview by NPR’s Michele Norris here.
The U.S. women play France in the semifinals today—coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on ESPN TV, and there’s also live streaming on ESPN3. I know what I’ll be doing over my lunch hour….
Tina Hay, editor
With Ali Krieger’s Help, U.S. One Step Closer to World Cup Glory
The Women’s World Cup wrapped up its quarterfinal games Sunday, and the U.S. team needed a dramatic comeback victory to survive. The Americans topped Brazil on extra-time penalties, tying the game at 2-2 in the final moments before edging the Brazilians 5-3 on spot kicks. The last of those penalties was taken by Ali Krieger ’07, who has started every game in the tournament for the U.S. For Krieger, the team’s right back, it was a rare chance to put the ball in the net. This ESPN.com link has the highlights, including video of Krieger’s clinching penalty and celebration.
The U.S. will face France on Wednesday in one of two semifinal matches, looking to earn a spot in next weekend’s final.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
A Great Day for Nittany Lion Soccer Alumni
The 2011 Women’s World Cup got underway a few days ago, and the U.S. team stands among the tournament favorites. One of the standouts on the U.S. roster is Ali Krieger ’07, the former All-American who started and played all 90 minutes Tuesday in the Americans’ opening 2-0 victory over North Korea (you can find match details and video highlights here). It was a terrific game for Krieger, who had a hand (or more accurately, a foot) in both U.S. goals. As this recent Washington Post feature explains, Krieger probably appreciates her success more than most: Five years ago, after her junior season at Penn State, she was diagnosed with blood clots in her lungs; without quick medical intervention, she might’ve died.
The Post produced a short video to run with the Krieger piece that includes an interview and some great footage of her playing as a kid. It’s worth checking out.
Corey Hertzog had a pretty good night Tuesday, as well. The former Penn State marksman and current New York Red Bulls rookie, who is featured in our July/August issue, scored his first goal as a professional, notching the tying goal in an eventual 2-1 Red Bulls win Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Gadowsky is the Guy for Nittany Lion Hockey
The last thing I wanted to do was bum out Penn State’s new hockey coach.
I was in the room Monday for the introduction of Guy Gadowsky, the new — and first — head coach of Penn State’s Division 1 men’s hockey team. My question, which ended up being the last of the afternoon, was whether Gadowsky was mindful of the high expectations for the program, and whether — at a campus where a third-year wrestling coach just won a national championship — he might want to temper those expectations.
“You’re killing my buzz,” Gadowsky said.
The coach was joking, and in truth, I’m not sure anything could’ve dampened Gadowsky’s mood Monday afternoon. The man who rebuilt struggling programs at Princeton and Alaska-Fairbanks has been tasked with building the Penn State program virtually from scratch—and he couldn’t have been more confident about succeeding.
“I don’t look at it like we’re building from scratch,” Gadowsky said. “We’ve got a great tradition here. The club tradition is phenomenal. We’ve got (more…)
A Winning Start at Nittany Lion Park
This past weekend marked the opening of Beard Field at Nittany Lion Park, where the softball team swept two games from Wisconsin, an 8-5 victory on Saturday and a 3-2, extra-innings win on Sunday. It was quite the debut.
The new stadium sits in the northwest corner of the intramural field near East Halls. (For those who remember, it’s as if the diamond from the old Nittany Lion Field was picked up, moved about 350 feet west, and reversed so that hitters now swing toward University Drive.) Here’s the view of left field from the seats behind the visitors’ dugout — as with all the images here, you can click to enlarge:
That new scoreboard towers above the left-field wall, which goes about 210 feet at left center. Worth noting that Wisconsin junior Karla Powell hit a homer on Sunday that cleared the scoreboard. It was a bomb.
And here’s the view of the stadium itself, which includes concessions, bathrooms, a press box, and locker and office space for Penn State players and coaches. If you’ve ever been to a Penn State softball game, you know what an upgrade this is.
If you look closely, you might be able to see the stand-up heating lamps they’ve got up on the concourse—great call by somebody. Also, I do believe the dorm in the background is Snyder Hall, where I lived my sophomore year. Since you asked.
Seeing plenty of sunshine in the forecast, and having access to a good camera—we keep a Nikon D40 at the office—I got to pretend I was a real photographer. I took a few half-decent shots on Sunday, the best of which was this:
That’s sophomore first basewoman Kailyn Johnson (who hails from my hometown of Yorba Linda, California!) in the top of the eighth inning, squeezing her mitt on the ball an instant before Wisconsin’s Jennifer Krueger touched the bag. And it’s pretty much in focus! Sometimes I get lucky.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Would Corey Hertzog Watch Corey Hertzog?
I’m the resident soccer geek on The Penn Stater staff, so I was excited to see this New York Times piece on former Nittany Lion star Corey Hertzog. It actually ran last week, when my household was under virtual quarantine as strep made its way through the family (we’re mostly feeling better, thanks). Anyway: As a junior last season, Hertzog led the nation in scoring; on a recommendation from pro scouts, he chose to bypass his senior season, and last week he was a first-round pick of the New York Red Bulls in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
I saw plenty of Hertzog last season at Jeffrey Field, and I’m not surprised MLS made him a priority. Soccer fans know that certain guys just have an innate knack for finding the back of the net, and Hertzog’s sublime touch and strong leg made him a natural goal-scorer. For proof, a stunning goal from 2009. That part where he lobs the ball to himself to set up the volley? He did that on purpose.
Fascinatingly, though, Hertzog isn’t much of a soccer fan. “I won’t go out of my way to watch a game,” Hertzog tells the Times; as any American “footy” fan knows, going out of our way is exactly how most of us have had to watch the teams we love over the years, getting up early on Saturday mornings or finding out-of-the-way bars with satellite hook-ups and accommodating bartenders.
The fact that Hertzog doesn’t actually care to watch the sport at which he excels makes him unusual, but it clearly hasn’t hurt his game. Happily, soccer is more easily viewed than ever in this country, which means that, in addition to seeing more of our favorite European clubs, we can watch more MLS games, too. The 2011 MLS season kicks off in March, and Hertzog might get a chance to play alongside Thierry Henry, the legendary French striker playing out his career in the growing American league. Hertzog’s own disinterest aside, more and more Americans do watch soccer. This summer, a lot of them might be watching him.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Big Ten Logo Reactions
Yesterday’s unveiling of the new Big Ten logo and new division names is meeting with harsh criticism in some camps. Case in point: This short piece on the New England Sports Network’s site is called “New Big Ten Logo Looks Like it Took 25 Seconds to Make.” (Ouch.) You can read a couple of other snarky articles here and here.
Some of the negative comments have been aimed more at the names of the new conference divisions: the Leaders Division and the Legends Division. But the part that fascinates me the most is the reaction to the new logo and its variants. This is why I could never be a designer: I don’t have a thick enough skin. You do all this research, kick around all these ideas, bring to bear all this specialized knowledge, and come up with something you think meets the client’s needs—and then people immediately jump in and start trashing it.
I really started paying attention this afternoon when I discovered that the design was done by Pentagram Design. I probably could count on one hand the number of design firms I know by name, and Pentagram would be at the top of the list. One of their partners is DJ Stout, who used to be the art director at Texas Monthly (a great magazine) and who been a terrific speaker at our national editors’ conference a couple of times. Another partner is Michael Bierut, who has done design work for everyone from Benetton to Walt Disney to the New York Jets. He’s kind of a legend in the field—and he was one of the two lead designers on the new Big Ten logo.
Here is a blog entry on the Pentagram site explaining a bit of their thinking behind the logo and showing it in a couple of different contexts. I have to say that when I see it in use—on a water bottle or a football field—I actually kind of like it.
What are your thoughts on the new look? And the new divisions? Feel free to post a comment below.
Tina Hay, editor
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