This weekend is extremely busy for all of us. It is our recruiting weekend and we have about 15 women’s recruits to come and meet the team. It is our parents weekend, and there are over 85 parents signed up for the parents brunch, plus we have some big games. The men’s team were supposed to play Buffalo, but they pulled out and so now they are playing their biggest rivals, Navy! The men are part of the Collegiate Premier League, which only plays in the spring, and Navy are also in the league. This gives both teams a great game. The men kick-off at 1pm on the lower field at West Campus.
For the women, we play Delaware on the the up and coming programs nationally, in our second EPRU league game. Delaware made it to the Division 2 final four in 2009 and then stepped up to Division 1 last year. They had a fine first season in division 1, making the National Championships. This will be a good test for Penn State as we continue to give players an opportunity to play A side and work out what our best side is.
The influx of talented high school players this year has created a lot of depth and competition for A side playing time. We have also had a great year with on campus recruiting. For the first time in 8 years, I am back in State College and that has allowed me to reach out to varsity coaches and get their cut lists. We have a number of softball players that tried out and a soccer player. These rookies are extremely athletic and have pushed our squad to over 70 players. This weekend we have 56 players available to play, and they will all get the chance. For many rookies it will be their first real game, and having seen them perform in the scrimmage on Wednesday they will do very well.
We look forward to seeing all our parents, alumni and fans this weekend. Please note that we will be having an alumni event at the women’s EPRU Tournament in Princeton on the weekend of November 6-7. The team will play their first match on Saturday around 2.30pm. Check back here for more details.
Cheers,
Pete
