Thank You Terry: Lindsay Reihl

Showing posts with label Lindsay Reihl. Show all posts

Saturday, October 5, 2013

W: Penn State 4 at Vermont 2

Box score // Penn State recap // Vermont recap
Victory Bell Rings recap // Vermont highlights // Vermont photos

Building on an extremely strong showing in a season-opening 3-3 tie with Vermont on Friday night, Penn State (1-0-1) took the next step on Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 victory over the Catamounts (0-1-1) at UVM's Gutterson Field House.

To tell the truth, there wasn't much to set the win apart from the tie (other than the scoreline, of course) as many of the game's themes were reruns from the front half of the series. But just to review...

Theme 1: Resilience

Vermont scored five goals on Penn State this weekend. After four of them, the Nittany Lions scored next. And those answers came after just 2:11, 0:27, 4:58 and 0:06, with the latter two on Saturday. After Gina Repaci's bouncer through traffic from center point put UVM ahead just under seven minutes into the contest, Kelly Seward answered with a bar-down bomb from just inside the line at the 11:49 mark. Laura Bowman, however, decided that wasn't good enough. Twelve seconds after Seward tied it up, she broke the tie by finishing a faceoff win and Hannah Hoenshell's rush-and-pass at the back post.

In the middle period, UVM received a second goal from a blueliner 3:48 in when Dayna Colang stepped around Shannon Yoxheimer up high before burying to re-knot the contest at two. But Hoenshell - who played arguably the best game of her career - had a lighting-fast reply when she dangled down low off of the draw and tucked the puck past Roxanne Douville.

Bottom line: PSU has always been a tough team, but they now have the skill to make it count on the scoreboard.

Theme 2: Secondary scoring

It was clear on Friday that the newly-assembled unit of Amy Petersen, Bowman and Hoenshell would provide a viable second scoring line this season. However, it didn't show up in the stats immediately, as usual suspects Shannon Yoxheimer and Taylor Gross were the offensive stars. In the rematch, however, the goals came from the less-familiar sources. Hoenshell had one, plus two assists to first-star-of-the-game Bowman. After the Texan countered Colang to put the Lions back ahead, the Minnesotan once again went back post from a centering feed to supply some breathing room with 2:38 left in the second period.

Bottom line: Penn State received seven goals over the weekend, the most of any NCAA series against a major-conference team, and now present exponentially more matchup problems for opponents.

Theme 3: Goaltending

Josh Brandwene may have raised a couple eyebrows by starting Celine Whitlinger after Nicole Paniccia's stellar outing Friday, but the sophomore more than answered the bell with 37 often-spectacular saves and her second career win.

Although Penn State held a two-goal lead into the third period, it certainly wasn't an easy close-out. The Catamounts launched 16 shots on Whitlinger in the 20 minutes, including one near the halfway mark that bounced through the crease and ended up with just about every blue-clad player on the ice laying on top of it. A video review followed, but after a lengthy delay it was determined that the puck never fully traversed the goalline.

Bottom line: Start Paniccia, start Whitlinger... either way, they're both outstanding.

Theme 4: Player development

Some of the unsung heroes in the win were players who are both well-known to Penn Staters but also much better than a year ago. The defensive tandem of Jordin Pardoski and Sarah Wilkie is developing into a legitimate shutdown pair, and both were instrumental to PSU's lead protection efforts. Lindsay Reihl and Paige Jahnke also had great games on defense. Jenna Welch and her linemates made the tough plays, while Emily Laurenzi was all over the ice at times.

Bottom line: As fantastic as the freshman were in their first two college games this weekend, the bulk of this team is still in the sophomore class - and they've shown unreal growth from year one to year two.

Up next, this dangerous-looking pride of Nittany Lions travels to Hamden, CT for a two-game set at Quinnipiac. They'll make their long-awaited Pegula Ice Arena debut the following weekend against Union.

Here's the live blog from a fantastic couple hours at the Gut:

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Women's Jersey Countdown: #6 Lindsay Reihl

Graduate Student - Defender - 5'4" - Cheshire, CT

Lindsay Reihl is truly a remarkable player. The fact that she came to Penn State before the Pegula donation announcement and made the jump to the NCAA team is significant enough by itself to make that statement, of course. But it's more than that, because she's far from a mere hanger-on, she's a great defender, and an every-game player who wears an A on her sweater. The coup de grace is the fact that Reihl made herself valuable enough in 2012-13 to be asked back this season as a graduate student. That sets her apart as the only former ACHAer, male or female, with whom PSU's coaches were willing to take advantage of the NCAA's five-in-four rule, which (in this application) allows former members of the ACHA teams to play five total years of college hockey. With the Lady Icers, Reihl was the club's three-time defensive player of the year. She was also, in 2011, a member of the first women's team USA Hockey sent to the World University Games, helping the squad to a fourth-place finish. Just in case you needed more, and as her pursuit of a graduate degree suggests, Reihl is also an outstanding student - she was named a 2012-13 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar for carrying a GPA above 3.7.

Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
Career Statistics (2009-12 with ACHA Lady Icers):
2009-10	23	2	4	6	14	1	0	0	-
2010-11	21	0	4	4	37	0	0	0	-
2011-12	28	2	7	9	32	0	0	0	-
2012-13	35	0	1	1	14	0	0	0	0
ACHA Career	72	4	15	19	83	1	0	0	-
NCAA Career	35	0	1	1	14	0	0	0	0

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Fifteen Lions Receive CHA Academic Accolades

Tess Weaver is now a member of the all-academic team in two different conferences

College Hockey America announced on Monday that 15 members of the 2012-2013 Nittany Lions women's team have been named to the CHA All-Academic Team, an honor given to student-athletes who record a grade point average of 3.0 or better during all in-season academic periods.

The Penn Staters recognized include forwards Kate Christoffersen, Hannah Hoenshell, Jill Holdcroft, Darby Kern, Emily Laurenzi, Kendra Rasmussen, Tess Weaver, Jenna Welch and Katie Zinn, defenders Jeanette Bateman, Paige Jahnke, Lindsay Reihl, Stephanie Walkom and Sarah Wilkie, along with goaltender Brooke Meyer. All except the graduated Christoffersen and Zinn, who transferred to the University of British Columbia after the season, are returning to the team in 2013-2014. Most of PSU's winners will be part of a massive sophomore class, with Zinn, Christoffersen, graduate student Reihl, senior Welch and junior Weaver the exceptions.

Christoffersen and Reihl were both picked as Big Ten Distinguished Scholars on July 10th, an award requiring a 3.7 GPA for the previous academic year. They also joined Weaver in winning Academic All-Big Ten selection in May, giving the trio the rare distinction of honors from two different conferences. Jess Desorcie, Taylor Gross and Cara Mendelson also won the latter Big Ten award which, like the CHA, requires a 3.0 GPA - but unlike the CHA measures cumulatively while also blocking freshmen from eligibility. Eighteen players of the 27 on last year's roster have now won some sort of award for their academic performance.

In all, 77 CHA players received that league's distinction, with Robert Morris' 21 leading the way. Additionally, 11 of the 77 were named co-winners of the Student-Athlete of the Year award for carrying a perfect 4.0: Kendra Broad (Lindenwood), Celeste Brown (RIT), Gina Buquet (Mercyhurst), Lauren Jones (Mercyhurst), Katelyn Scott (Robert Morris), Alison Wickenheiser (Lindenwood), Amy Stober (Lindenwood), Chelsea Witwicke (Lindenwood), Ali Binnington (RIT), Julia DiTondo (Mercyhurst) and Nicole Hensley (Lindenwood).

Here's the full release from CHA, including a list of all 77 winners:

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Penn State-RIT Photo Gallery II

Photos from Saturday afternoon's visit to RIT for the CHA playoff contest between the Tigers and the Nittany Lion women. Click any photo to enlarge.

Note: Ordinarily I like to post an illustrated campus tour, but in RIT's case, I already handled some of that task back in October when the men's team played in Rochester.

The exterior of possibly the most boring building in architectural history

Much like at the Ice Pavilion, seats from RIT's coming arena are on display

Thank You Tom doesn't have quite the same ring to it

The 2012 DIII trophy - we'd hear from Kim Schlattman (no. 10, left photo) again

Clean ice...nothing better

RIT's Melissa Bromley (left) and Danielle Read waiting to get on that ice

Freshman defender Jeanette Bateman

Senior-ish defender Lindsay Reihl

Freshman forward Micayla Catanzariti

Sophomore forward Tess Weaver

Friday, February 22, 2013

W: Penn State 1 at Robert Morris 4

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // RMUColonials.com recap

Despite a fortunate Emily Laurenzi goal that bounced in - seemingly in slow motion - off of a Robert Morris skate to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead late in the first period, PSU (7-23-2, 1-16-2 CHA) was unable to take down the defending CHA champion Colonials (12-14-3, 8-10-1 CHA) at the Island Sports Center Friday night. The game placed Penn State in a couple of new slots in the RMU media guide, as Colonials goalie Kristen DiCiocco reset the program wins record (32) and Robert Morris rifled 63 shots at Nicole Paniccia to set a new team mark in that category.

Here's the RMU recap (as well as video of the goals), followed by the live blog.

The Robert Morris University women's hockey team earned its eighth College Hockey America (CHA) win of the season as the Colonials defeated Penn State, 4-1 Friday evening at the RMU Island Sports Center.

With tonight's win, senior goaltender Kristen DiCiocco (Niagara Falls, Ontario / Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) earned her 32nd career victory to set a new record for wins by a single goaltender in Robert Morris program history. DiCiocco stopped 12 of the 13 shots she faced from the Nittany Lions to tally a .929 save percentage in the recording breaking victory.

To begin the Colonials last regular series of the year, Robert Morris hit the ice with great intensity. RMU outshot Penn State 16-5 throughout the first 20 minutes of play while the Colonial penalty kill stifled the Nittany Lion's only power play chance of the first frame. After an unusual failed clear attempt by RMU and an unlucky bounce, Penn State scored the opening goal of the contest with 1:14 remaining in the first period. Freshman forward Emily Laurenzi was credited with the score with Hannah Hoenshell and Paige Jahnke registering assists.

Halfway through the second period, the Colonials were able to execute multiple scoring opportunities as RMU scored its first goal of the game at 10:22 of the period. Senior assistant captain Jamie Joslin(Richmond Hill, Ontario / Aurora Panthers) stole the puck at the blue line, skated it into the offensive zone and immediately fire a shot on net. The shot deflected off the chest of PSU goaltender Nicole Paniccia as forward Rebecca Vint (Caledon, Ontario / Brampton Jr. Thunder) crashed the net hard and buried the puck past Paniccia. The assist is the 12th of the season for Joslin and the score marks the 15th of Vint's sophomore campaign.

Less than three minutes later, RMU would take a 2-1 lead off a bang-bang play from three Colonial forwards. Sophomore forward Maddie Collias (Roseville, Mich. / Belle Tire) hit linemate Katelyn Scott (Brighton, Mich. / Belle Tire) with a quick pass that allowed her to send the puck across the crease to senior captain Dayna Newsom (Oakville, Ontario / Oakville Ice) for a back door power play goal. The power play goal was scored at 13:12 of the second period. The assists are the sixth and ninth for Scott and Collias while the goal is the third of the season for Newsom. The goal is also second power play goal this year for Newsom, first game-winning goal and the second goal of she has scored against the Nittany Lions.

Throughout the second 20 minutes of action, RMU outshot Penn State 30-5. The 30 shots by the RMU marks a season-high for shots in a period. The Colonials surpassed its previous season-best 26 shots they put on net last weekend in the third period of game two against Lindenwood. Fourteen of RMU's 30 shots came on the three power play opportunities.

Robert Morris added to its lead at 5:33 of the third period when senior assistant captain Cobina Delaney (Stittsville, Ontario / Ottawa Jr. Senators) tallied her fifth goal of the year. Senior forward Kelsey Thomas (Hamilton, Ontario / Hamilton Hawks) passed to junior forward Kristen Richards (Toronto, Ontario / Niagara University) for the initial shot on net. After a scrum to the left of the cage, Delaney found the puck and lifted into the top of the net to put the Colonials up, 3-1. The assist for Thomas allows her to move into a tie for fifth all-time in career points with 75. The goal for Delaney also allows her to move into the top-10 in career goals as she has scored 22 goals in her four-year career at Robert Morris.

The Colonials scored their final goal of the contest with 2:16 remaining in the third frame to earn the 4-1 victory. The fourth RMU goal was scored by Scott for her second point of the game and fourth goal of the season. Junior defenseman Brandi Pollock (Virden, Manitoba / Westman Wildcats)passed off to Joslin at the blue line and Joslin fired a shot on net that Scott tipped in for the score. The assist marks Pollock's fifth of the year as Joslin tallied her 13th assist of the year and second of tonight's game. Joslin's two-point performance on the evening moves her career total for points to 43. The senior is now tied for most career points tallied by a Colonial defenseman. The defender also moves into a tie for third all-time in assists by a defenseman with 30 career assists.

RMU outshot the Nittany Lions 63-14 in the victory. The 63 shots on net sets a new single-game program record for Robert Morris passing the 61 shot-effort against Lindenwood last season. The Colonial penalty kill unit was a perfect four-for-four in the evening contest. The defensive unit now ranks 11th on national scene with an 85.7 kill percentage (102-119).

Saturday, February 16, 2013

W: Penn State 0 at RIT 4

Box score // GoPSUsports.com recap // RITathletics.com recap // USCHO photos

The Nittany Lion women (7-22-2, 1-15-2 CHA) dropped a disappointing, but not discouraging, 4-0 decision at RIT (14-13-5, 7-6-5 CHA) Saturday night. The game became rather heated in the late stages - notable because the Tigers' now-completed sweep of PSU, combined with Lindenwood's simultaneous sweep of Robert Morris in St. Louis, make Rochester the most likely destination for Penn State when the CHA tournament gets underway in two weeks.

Next weekend, PSU closes its regular season with a pair at RMU. Elsewhere in the CHA, RIT travels to Mercyhurst, while Syracuse hosts Lindenwood. Sweeps by both Lindenwood and Mercyhurst would send the Nittany Lions to LU (which is even with Robert Morris in the standings, but owns the tiebreaker) for CHAs, while any other result sets up a rematch with RIT.

A summary of the rapidly-solidfying league standings: Mercyhurst clinched the regular season title over the weekend by sweeping Syracuse, which has clinched second. Both teams will receive byes to the tournament semifinals, which will be hosted by the top-seeded Lakers. On the other end, Penn State is locked into sixth, and - barring the scenario outlined above - will head to third-place RIT in for the best-of-three first round of the playoffs. Lindenwood and Robert Morris are currently tied for fourth in points and (again, unless LU sneaks into third) will likely play each other in the first round, with home ice between the two still up for grabs.

Here's the RITathletics.com recap, followed by the live blog.

Nicole Paniccia made 41 saves, including this one on Lindsay Grigg. Photo: Omar Phillips/USCHO

The RIT women’s hockey team (14-13-5, 7-6-5 CHA) clinched at least a share of third place in the College Hockey America standings after defeating Penn State (7-22-2, 1-15-2 CHA) by a score of 4-0 on Saturday night at Ritter Arena.

RIT broke the game open with three second period goals. The line of Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury), Marissa Maugeri (Ajax, Ontario/Durham West Lightning), and Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) combined for six points. Zach and Maugeri had a goal and an assist apiece, while Paton tallied two assists. Kourtney Kunichika (Fullerton, CA/LA Selects) recorded a goal and an assist, while Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) also scored for RIT.

RIT out-shot Penn State, 45-20. RIT goaltender Laura Chamberlain (Norco, CA/LA Selects) stopped all 20 shots she faced to record her second shutout of the season and 12th of her career. Chamberlain made a handful of big saves in the third period to preserve the shutout.

Nicole Paniccia made 41 saves in defeat for the Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions were 0-for-2 with the man-advantage, while RIT was 0-for-1.

The Tigers have clinched home ice for the upcoming CHA postseason tournament and will host a best-of-three series at Ritter Arena from March 1-3.

RIT Head Coach Scott McDonald was happy with his team’s play tonight, especially in the second period.

"I was excited with the way we played the entire game," said McDonald. "I couldn't be happier for our senior class, they were great tonight. The second period was one of our best of the year."

Neither team scored in an opening period that featured just a handful of stoppages and no goals. RIT held an 11-5 edge in shots on goal, but missed several wide.

Paton had a great chance stopped by the glove of Paniccia with 4:23 remaining, interrupting a 13-minute span between whistles. On the ensuing face-off, Maugeri rang a shot off the post.

Shannon Yoxheimer nearly scored twice in the first period. Photo: Omar Phillips/USCHO

Penn State had its best chance of the period with three minutes left in the period, as Shannon Yoxheimer fired a shot from the left wing that Chamberlain looked to have smothered, but the puck got behind the goaltender and was sitting in the crease for a few tense seconds before Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres) knocked it away.

The Tigers played one of their better periods of the season in the second, scoring three times, while out-shooting the Nittany Lions 24-4 to take a 3-0 lead into the intermission.

Schlattman got the Tigers on the board just 2:08 into the period, as she shoveled a pass from Kunichika from in close off the post and in for her team-best 14th goal of the year. Great work by Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) and Kunchika down low made the goal, as Schlattman was alone in front for the goal.

RIT nearly made it 2-0 on the power-play moments later, as Hiller was denied three times in succession in front, first on a deflection, then on two rebounds.

Maugeri gave RIT a 2-0 lead at the 12:48 mark, slamming in a rebound after a shot by Zach was stopped. Paton kicked a pass in the neutral zone to Zach, who came flying in on the right wing. She had her initial attempt stopped by Paniccia, but Maugeri was there to stuff home the rebound for her seventh goal of the year.

That line struck again with 1:09 left in the period, as Zach collected a cross-ice pass from Paton on the rush to put the puck past Paniccia for her fourth goal of the year. Maugeri also assisted on the goal.

Kuncihika concluded the scoring with 4:43 left in regulation, stealing a puck into the neutral zone, flying into the Penn State zone, and putting a low shot through the pads of Paniccia for her ninth goal of the season.

Tonight was the fourth regular season meeting between the two squads, with RIT holding a 3-0-1 edge. On Oct. 25, RIT defeated the Nittany Lions 4-1 at Penn State, while the two teams skated to a 2-2 tie the next night. Last night, Schlattman scored two goals, while Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects) dished out three assists to become the 12th player in the history of the RIT women’s hockey program to record 100 career points in a 4-1 RIT win.

Before the game, RIT honored seniors Ellesha Fortuna (Burlington, Ontario/Burlington Barracudas), Danielle Read (Brantford, Ontario/Hamilton Hawks), Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons), Yokoyama, Hiller, and Schlattman.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Penn State-Lindenwood Photo Gallery

Photos from Friday afternoon's Penn State-Lindenwood women's game. All are by and courtesy of Steven Hass. Click for full size.

Junior goaltender Nicole Paniccia

Freshman forward Emily Laurenzi, PSU's lone goal scorer.

Junior forward Jenna Welch

Freshman forward Hannah Hoenshell

Sophomore forward Jess Desorcie

Laurenzi

Freshman defender Paige Jahnke protects Paniccia

Freshman defender Jeanette Bateman

Senior (sort of) defender Lindsay Reihl

Junior forward Taylor Gross

Reihl and Desorcie sandwich Lindenwood's Alyssa West

Reihl to Return in 2013-14

The women's team will hold a Senior Day ceremony on Saturday before its game against Lindenwood, but will only honor half of its senior class, forward Kate Christoffersen.

It's not an oversight. TYT has learned that this season's other senior - defender Lindsay Reihl - will continue with the Nittany Lions in 2013-2014 as she pursues graduate studies in kinesiology.

In bringing Reihl back, Penn State is taking advantage of NCAA Bylaw 14.2.1, which states that student-athletes have five years from the time they first register for classes to complete their four years of NCAA eligibility. Reihl, of course, started her five-year clock in 2009, giving her through the end of next year to get four NCAA seasons in. While the Connecticut native played for the ACHA Division 1 Lady Icers from 2009 through 2012, those campaigns don't count against her NCAA eligibility - essentially, in the NCAA's eyes, she'll be a sophomore next season, but one whose eligibility will expire before becoming a "junior" due to the five-year rule.

It's really quite a story if you think about it: while Reihl is one of ten players on the inaugural NCAA women's and men's teams who came to Penn State before September 17, 2010, the date of the Terry Pegula donation announcement, she will likely be one of just two who preceded elevation and will get to play in the Pegula Ice Arena (men's forward Michael McDonagh, a junior this year, is the other).

This move is just the latest piece of evidence proving Reihl's value. This season, she is one of just nine players to dress for each of PSU's 27 games, and she collected an assist in a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart on October 20th. Reihl has been one of the Nittany Lions' sturdiest blueliners this season, and the A on her sweater nicely reflects her status as a team leader on an extremely young squad. As a Lady Icer, she was named the team's defensive player of the year in each of her three seasons, and helped Penn State to the 2010 ACHA national championship tournament as a freshman. She was also a member of Team USA for the 2011 World University Games - the first women's team sent to the event by USA Hockey - helping the squad to a fourth-place finish in Erzurum, Turkey.

As things stand now, and barring any cuts, the women's team roster will grow to 30 next year (18 forwards, 9 defenders, 3 goaltenders). That unusually large size for a women's team, bolstered by the retention of Reihl, offers some Title IX flexibility to the men, who - again, without cutting anyone - are at 29 (16 forwards, 9 defensemen, 4 goaltenders).