After playing seven games in 22 days, Penn State women’s soccer finally got a week-long rest after it won its Big Ten opener against Maryland last Thursday. It will now play two home games this week against Big Ten opponents Nebraska and Wisconsin at Jeffrey Field to close out its three-game home stand.

Two-game weeks are a common theme for the Nittany Lions. They have had to play two games per week for three consecutive weeks before their win over the Terrapins. After taking on Nebraska and Wisconsin, they will head on the road for another two-game week to battle Illinois and Northwestern before they have a six-day break. For that reason, head coach Erica Dambach echoed the importance of her team having a full week for the first time in a month.

“It’s been huge for all of us, coaching staff included. That rhythm of seven games in 22 days was a lot for all of us,” Dambach said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time. I think [the team] handled it very well, and I thought the training was quite good yesterday, so I think it is exactly what we needed this time of year.”

Ever since Penn State lost to now-No. 1 Virginia on September 4, it has responded with back-to-back wins over Liberty and Maryland. In the process, its offense combined for seven goals while holding both opponents to shutouts. However, Dambach wants to make sure that her team continues to make improvements as it continues to play against strong Big Ten opposition, since Liberty and Maryland are not on the same level as Virginia.

This season, the Nittany Lions are winless against ranked opponents despite their own No. 8 position in the country. In the losses against Duke and Virginia, Penn State was on the road and only scored 2 goals combined while having minimal scoring opportunities. As for unranked opponents, it have won five out of six matches, with a tie against JMU as its only hiccup.

Even though Penn State’s opponents Nebraska and Wisconsin are not ranked, it knows that it cannot take any Big Ten opponent for granted. It had a sub-par regular season in the Big Ten last year, finishing 5-4-2, good enough for 10th in the regular season standings. This led to an early exit in the Big Ten quarterfinals against UCLA. Dambach said she has one goal in her mind as the team gets ready for another two-game week: being ready to execute their game plan against all their upcoming opponents.

“Right now, our task is to make sure that we can fire on all cylinders against any team in the country right now,” Dambach said. “In order to do that, there’s a lot of things we need to continue to sharpen against these next opponents.”

Ahead of Penn State’s first two-game conference slate, Dambach said that she wants her team to do physically everything and anything that they need to do. She echoed the sentiment of emptying the tank against Nebraska on Thursday before focusing on the game against Wisconsin the next day. She credited the team’s strength coach, Bree Kansas, for helping the team have the ability to recover quickly and being able to perform at a high level during two-game weeks.

Ahead of its final two games of its three-game homestand before heading on the road next week, Penn State will look to take advantage of playing at Jeffrey Field, where it is unbeaten so far this season. Dambach talked about what she wants to see out of her team as it prepares for the onslaught of games.

“We talk a lot about [how] every game has two kinds of soccer games that go in it. One is the actual tactics, understanding, and technique. [While] the other one is the physical battle, and I think these two games will be way more about [that],” Dambach said. “[We have] to make sure that we are the aggressor, and then the soccer will take care of itself. Any time we’ve struggled against these teams, we haven’t been up for the physical fight of it, and we’ve got to make sure, coming out the gates, that we’re prepared for it.”