UNIVERSITY PARK. PA- The Penn State Nittany Lions find themselves on a winning streak for the first time this season as they roll into CHA rival Syracuse's home ice for a two-game series. The two CHA front runners are expected to put on quite the show as they battle for the top spot in the conference standings.
While this isn't a make-or-break series for the Nittany Lions this early in the season, it has the feel of a win-or-go-home contest. One or two wins against Syracuse would provide Penn State with confidence and a comfortable margin in the standings.
With that said, head coach Jeff Kampersal doesn't want to measure this series by winning or not winning. Instead, he wants to see his team come out with a consistent 60-minute effort.
"We stressed the fact that these are important games, we don't really talk about winning or not winning, we just want effort. That's important." Kampersal said, "During the bye week we practiced hard for three days and the practice before the weekend wasn't great, and we can't do that. So, we're just focusing on really good effort, the kind of effort that we've had in 'game twos.'"
While a resilient Nittany Lions squad has weathered the storm in past rocky starts, Kampersal looks to turn it around this weekend against Syracuse and start each game strong. He's incorporated some new drills and games into practices that look to bring energy to start the game off.
"We try to have small games and start practice with small games [to get] competitive right away. The first five minutes we have them battle and then sprinkle competitive situations throughout practice as well," Kampersal said.
Sophomore defender Lyndie Lobdell also is looking for a quicker start against Syracuse this weekend.
"Preparation is everything, I personally find myself to be very vocal before games and have a lot of energy and be that crazy fireball," Lobdell said. "I'm going to look to push that into Friday as like any other day but a little bit more so because it hasn't been the same performance in each game."
One player that has found their groove lately is sophomore forward Kiara Zanon. She has been especially good against the Orange in the past. Last season she had six points, two goals and four assists, in five games played. Syracuse will look to minimize her impact on the game especially with how dominant she has been lately.
"For Kiara all the time teams are going to be really physical with her, Lindenwood's always super physical, skate her to the bench," Kampersal said. "She just needs to have that physical and mental toughness which as a sophomore she's displayed going through the league a couple time. She knows exactly what to expect."
This season Zanon has tallied five goals and nine assists for 14 points which ranks her second on the team behind linemate Natalie Heising.
Of course, it's not lost on the Nittany Lions that their season came to an end last year against Syracuse in the CHA tournament. So, it comes with no surprise that many of the players are using it as motivation this weekend.
"For me, it's not bad blood but it's definitely a motivating factor that I'm thinking about," said Lobdell. "And the fact that we're first with them, I'm just really motivated to play them in general."
Kampersal added, "The fact that we're both in first right now is more relevant for us. I think there's good lessons to learn from [last year's tournament loss]. We did go off the tracks. They scored a fluke goal early and it took us a while to get back on track. That last period against Syracuse we took it to them pretty good and hopefully that carries over to Friday night."
Syracuse won't be the only stop for the Nittany Lions while Penn State enjoys their Thanksgiving break. They're also slated to compete in the D1 in DC tournament facing matchups against two highly-competitive and top-ranked teams: eighth-ranked Minnesota Duluth (4-4-0) and second-ranked Ohio State (10-2-0).
These games will be played Nov. 26th at 4:30pm and Nov. 27th at 5:30pm.
It will be a long road trip for the Blue and White, one that will test the resolve and identity they've been searching for all year. However, Lobdell isn't worried about the time on the road and thinks it might help the team become closer.
"I've always liked traveling. It kind of reminds me of what I've done forever. We always go places for tournaments. We never stayed home. I definitely like playing at Pegula and the team likes it too, but it's fun to be on the bus and around each other all the time."
The Nittany Lions seem to be ready for one of the toughest stretches of their season. Their next four games of the season could be building blocks for the Penn State season.
The Blue and White will look to keep their three-game win streak alive against Syracuse, Friday November 18th at 7pm, and Saturday November 19th at 3pm.
