Senior midfielder Allison Scola, this week's Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, was named Division I's National Player of the Week by womensfieldhockey.com after her noteworthy performance this weekend contributed to the No. 10 Penn State field hockey team's victories over then-No. 5 Iowa and then-No. 10 Virginia.
Scola (Hummelstown, Pa.) tallied four points in a low-scoring twinbill against two of field hockey's outstanding programs. In a 2-1 victory over the Hawkeyes, she scored a goal and an assist. The midfielder generated a scoring opportunity for herself, taking possession out of a scrum on the left-side edge of the circle. She took the ball across the middle, firing a shot on the run from ten yards out to score. Later, Scola assisted on a game-winning, penalty-corner goal by Daneen Zug.
Penn State's lone goal over the Cavaliers Sunday came when Scola streaked down the right side of Virginia's zone. The midfielder deked Wahoo defenders alongside the base line and no-look passed the ball back in the box to Christine Dudek, who one-timed the ball into the net for a textbook, game-winning goal.
Scola's laurel is the second time in program history that a Nittany Lion player was named National Player of the Week by womensfieldhockey.com. Jen Long (Doylestown, Pa.) previously earned that honor last year after Penn State's victory over Maryland in the NCAA playoffs.
Womensfieldhockey.com is an independent Web site devoted to amateur and collegiate field hockey. It produces its own ranking system, which has the Nittany Lions pegged as the seventh-best team in the nation.
Penn State travels up Route 45 to Lewisburg, Pa. this afternoon to take on Bucknell at 6 p.m. The game can be viewed on GameTracker on www.gopsusports.com. A live video stream may be available through Bucknell's athletics Web site by viewing the Bison's field hockey schedule.