Perhaps no play in sports provides the offense with as good a scoring opportunity as a penalty corner in field hockey does. The attacking side has a sizeable edge in numbers, challenging its opponent with eight players against just four defenders and the goalie.
It is imperative to take advantage of these situations. If a team executes its penalty corners well, it does not need many to win.
“You can get one or two corners and win the game,” coach Kelly McCollum said. “I don’t think you need a ton of stats to win a field hockey game, because the numbers advantage in corners for the attacking unit is so high.”
The most common cause of penalty corners is a foot fault, which occurs when a defender kicks the ball in the circle – by accident or on purpose. Other fouls committed in the circle or within the 25-yard mark also lead to corners at the umpire’s discretion.
Defenders have to be aware of their surroundings to avoid giving the other team too many of these opportunities.
“The number one thing is that we have strong individual defense so we don’t kick the ball in the circle or cross in front of each other,” sophomore defender Zoe Almquist said. “We really have to be disciplined.”
During a penalty corner, each of the four defenders charging out of the goalcage has a specific job to do. Almquist explained that three defenders usually line up to the left of the goalie and one to the right.
The player to the far left is the first one out. Her job is to go directly to the ball. The second player to the goalie’s left is the trail, who picks up the player with the ball if the first defender gets beat.
The lone player on the goalie’s right marks the person who inserts the ball to prevent easy tip-ins. The defender directly to the left comes out to the goalie’s feet and clears any direct shots off the goalie’s pads.
When the defense comes up with a stop on a penalty corner, a counterattack can ensue because so many players were committed on offense.
“A lot of times other teams are caught off-guard,” Almquist said. “If they were just shooting, they have most of their numbers up in the circle. If we can break the ball out quickly to our forwards and mids who are way upfield already, oftentimes we can get fast breaks.”
NU’s defensive corner unit has been a strength as of late. Against Penn State, the Cats (6-12, 0-5 Big Ten) allowed just one goal on the Nittany Lions’ 22 penalty corner attempts. NU turned in a similar performance versus Louisville last Sunday, as the Cardinals scored once in 21 tries.
Offensive penalty corners have been a different story. While NU’s defensive unit has been stout, the offense has managed to score on just four of its 121 corners this season.
The Cats have experimented with different personnel and plays, but they have not been able to find the right combination.
“We’ve got more of our forwards rushing in on different post positions, which will utilize their ability to put the ball in the cage and to tip it in,” said injured senior Jill Putnam, who helps coach the penalty corner squads.
Corners are a product of aggressive play by the offense. When an attack unit has the defense backtracking and overloads the circle to increase its chances of earning a corner.
But most of the time the offense only tries to pick up corners as a fallback when an attack has stalled.
“If you get a corner that’s a great bonus,” senior forward Annie Bosslet said. “But you’re going in to score, and if it so happens that you can’t get a shot off, then you try to get a corner.”
McCollum said the key to a successful attack corner is a clean stop of the ball after it has been inserted. Without this the play breaks down and cannot be executed. Inserting the ball quickly is also important because it gives the offense more time to operate.
The attacking unit tries to be consistent with how it positions its players and where they move once a play starts. If every play looks similar it is harder for the defense to predict what is coming.
In a conference like the Big Ten in which every game is tight, a single play can decide the outcome. Penalty corner execution becomes especially important, and it will play a large role in NU’s quest to beat its first Big Ten opponent in over two years this Saturday against Indiana (7-8, 1-4).
“I would compare them to free throws,” Putnam said. “Corners can make or break a game.”
