“We all knew the Big Ten is going to be a really rough conference from the beginning of this year,” sophomore midfielder Kristen Henn said. “I think we’ve learned a lot from our Michigan game and what we can do better. (We) definitely need to be tougher on the field … (and) we need to just hold our ground and play our own game.”

This season, MSU has struggled with playing a full game as a team and said it now views each half as individual games. The team said it only showed up for the first half against the Wolverines, so playing from the beginning to end has remained a major focus at practice.

“(We’re working on) just really coming out hard and playing a full game as hard as we possibly can,” Henn said. “We tend to be a second or a first-half team; it’s varied, but I think if we put a whole great game of 70 minutes together, we should be fine.”

Despite the Spartans trailing the Nittany Lions 10-22 in their all-time series record, MSU dominated 5-1 when the teams met last season in University Park, Pa. Still, the team expects a physical conference opponent, senior back Joelle van Ierland said.

Penn State has pulled off wins in seven of its last eight games, including three shutouts.

“It’s going to be a hard, rough game,” van Ierland said. “They’re going to be fighting and going for every ball, and that’s how the Big Ten is, and that’s what we need to do too. We need to go for every 50-50 ball, every little thing on the field and fight hard.”

In addition to stretching their endurance, the Spartans have spent their practices tweaking details of their playing — attaining more penalty corners, stepping out of their defending circle and practicing passing sequences — to refine their skill, Henn said.

From the start of the season, the team also has maintained the mindset of focusing on one game at a time and not looking too far into the future. So while the majority of their focus has been on Penn State, the Spartans still have Wake Forest in their minds.

“(The) most important thing is to take it one game at a time into the weekend, but Wake Forest is always a very good opponent, and they come from a really good conference,” senior midfielder Amanda Huck said. “They show us a different style of hockey that we don’t really see as much in the Big Ten, so I think we can use it to our advantage and see where our weak points are.”

As an Atlantic Coast Conference team, the Demon Deacons’ style differs from that of the Big Ten because they use the size of the field to their advantage, Huck said. With that, the Spartans expect a fast-paced game with quick passes that will frequently change fields.

The last time MSU took on Wake Forest was during the 2008 season, where the Spartans fell 2-1 while playing on a neutral field at Northwestern.

“They’ll definitely be a different kind of team, that’s for sure,” Henn said. “ACC teams are all really talented, so I think it’s just a matter of us all working off each other and communicating well on the field so that we can stay together, attack as one and play defense as one.”

The Spartans said that the competition will provide them with an opportunity to learn from different game styles and strengthen their team chemistry on and off the field.

“We’re trying to grow as a team right now, so I think this weekend will be a big stepping moment for us and another opportunity to grow as one,” Huck said.