March 2, 2018
By Briana Zuccarelli, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- With a young defensive end of the field, the Penn State Nittany Lion offense knows it has to continue to get better and push their teammates.
With majority of the offense returning from last year, they provide the experience needed to balance out an inexperienced defense. Head coach Missy Doherty explained the importance of this older offense for the younger players.
"I just think when you have players with inexperience, when you're going to be playing against really good players in practice, it just helps you to learn a little bit quicker," said Doherty. "I think going against defensively, Katie O'Donnell at practice for a freshman midfielder, you're not going to face anyone that's harder to mark than her."
O'Donnell, a senior, leads the team with 14 goals so far this season and was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week as announced earlier Tuesday. Alongside her is junior Madison Carter, who has 13 goals in the first four games. Both O'Donnell and Carter have been named to the 2018 Tewaaraton Award Watch List this season, given to the top American women's lacrosse player each year.
Doherty explained how these two leaders have set the standards for their younger teammates and the future of Penn State lacrosse through their execution and their own personal growth while on the team.
"Katie O'Donnell does a great job at that, whether it's in the running, in the weight room, and even on game day," she said. "Madison Carter is always competing consistently and you see her doing the same things in the game that she does in practice every single day."
O'Donnell explained that she's seen herself change in many ways since her first year on the team. She became more physical, faster, and stronger. She credited the coaching staff and atmosphere of the team for the success she has had this season.
"I think it not only contributes to my success, but the rest of our team as well," said O'Donnell. "You see Maria Auth and you see Madison Carter out there working and our defense as well. I just think the atmosphere and mentality we have on this team right now really provides any one of us the opportunity to go off on a game in any point."
Sophomore attack, Auth has also had her fair share of goals and had an important hat trick on Saturday during the team's 16-11 win over Cornell. Auth said they don't look at the opposing team, rather they focus on themselves and what they need to make better during that week of practice.
"As a sophomore coming in now to a starting position, Maria is certainly willing to take a lot of risks and put herself out there," Doherty said. "I think she's learning a lot this year being in that role and how to maximize her efforts and work with the rest of the team, so it has been nice to see her take a premiere role this year."
Auth emphasized that the senior leaders and the team as a whole, all have each other's backs. She shared that O'Donnell is one of her biggest mentors on the team and that they have an ability to inform each other when they do something wrong without taking it in the wrong manner.
"We have a very good conversational aspect of our team," she said. "We're not scared to tell each other when we do make a mistake and we are willing to help each other. We are very supportive of our teammates."
Through continual practice and motivation, the offense and defense have been pushing each other to go above and beyond; to make a bigger impact for the team. With this practice also comes a higher level of confidence from their teammates and the coaching staff, something that O'Donnell and Auth say they've seen grow since the first game of the year.
"Yes, our defense is young, but they are still very talented and as the season has gone on their communication and chemistry together has gotten better as a whole," said Auth. "That is also a credit to our attack. We work very hard in practice to push our defense and that helps us on attack."
The Nittany Lions will look to continue their win streak at home on Saturday, March 3rd. The team will matchup against Loyola Maryland at 1 p.m.