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:

 

W: Penn State 3 at Vermont 3

Box score // Penn State recap // Vermont recap

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

An opening tie this year matched up against an opening win last year? Please don't think of it that way.

The simple reality of the situation is this: that historic NCAA-era opening win against Vermont was an outlier. Penn State managed five goals in that contest, then didn't score more than three in a game over the rest of the season other than against NCAA Division III Chatham and Sacred Heart, a DI team in name only.

While it's impossible to project things over all of 2013-2014 based on a single evening, right now, the Nittany Lions look like a much better team than a year ago. The signs are everywhere.

After a scoreless first period, Penn State took a 1-0 lead 6:28 into the second period just nine seconds into Sarah Kelly's hooking penalty. On the play, Shannon Yoxheimer threw the puck up to Jordin Pardoski at the point. The newly-minted alternate captain bombed UVM goalie Roxanne Douville with her heavy shot, and while Douville did make the save, the puck wound up behind her and just in front of the goal line for several agonizing seconds. Enter freshman defender Kelly Seward, the first to see the loose biscuit, and therefore the first goal scorer for Penn State this year.

It was a rather important power play goal for a team that only scored 17 of them all last season.

On the other side of the ledger, a PSU penalty kill that allowed opposing tallies 23.4 percent of the time last season went into lockdown mode. An early too many players on the ice call against the Lions went unpunished. As did two tripping calls, two checking calls, an interference call and an elbowing call over the first 40 minutes. The Catamounts did eventually solve the PK unit, on a Brittany Zuback rebound goal off of Amanda Pelkey's hybrid centering pass-shot that gave UVM a 3-2 lead with 4:04 remaining in regulation. Nevertheless, things could have gone much worse in that department.

But that leads us to something else that feels different this season. The Nittany Lions were always a resilient bunch, but didn't always have the horsepower to make that trait pay off with goals. It looks as if they do now. Just 27 seconds after Zuback scored that go-ahead goal, Yoxheimer took Lindsay Reihl's pass, powered down left wing, then sniped over Douville's shoulder. Earlier, after Pelkey's spectacular one-on-one goal gave Vermont a 2-1 lead a couple minutes into the third period, Gross provided a quick answer. Yoxheimer again started that play down left wing, and centered to the blue paint. Douville stopped Gross' initial shot, but after some persistence and a survived video review, the score was tied for the third of four times.

There was plenty of the familiar. Yoxheimer had a three-point evening and tied for the team high with four shots. Gross also had four shots and was perpetually dangerous. Nicole Paniccia was her usual spectacular self in making 35 stops. Emily Laurenzi, Sarah Wilkie and Birdie Shaw all played their roles particularly well this time out.

At the same time and as expected, freshmen Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen paired up to play in just about every situation and offered the promise of a second consistent scoring line. Sarah Nielsen, another first-year player, stepped in between Yoxheimer and Gross seamlessly. Seward had her goal, but also showed how her length will limit the opposition's trips to the middle of the ice this season.

So yeah, it was a tie. But right now, it feels like a win, because it looks like plenty of the sort of victories that count towards the season record are about to follow.

Here's the live blog from a wild evening in Burlington:

 

Women's Jersey Countdown: #21 Sarah Wilkie

Sophomore - Defender - 5'6" - Ashby, MA

Sarah Wilkie's improvement from the beginning of the 2012-13 season to the end mirrored that of the Nittany Lions as a whole. By the time the campaign came to a close, the former captain at Williston Northampton School had evolved from collecting limited minutes (she only dressed for half of the team's first 12 games) to become one of PSU's steadiest defenders. Wilkie found a home on the right side of Jordin Pardoski for 21 of the final 23 contests and the pair with highly complementary styles earned 11 starting nods during that stretch. The product of a massive Penn State family - eight relatives either have or are on their way to PSU degrees - Wilkie's -3 rating for the season was second best among Lion blueliners playing in at least 20 games, trailing only Pardoski's -2. She grabbed her lone point of the year in the final regular season game at Robert Morris, setting up Shannon Yoxheimer's snipe to tie the then-defending CHA champs at one late in the first period.

Career Statistics:
Season	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	PP	SH	GW	GT
2012-13	27	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
NCAA Career	27	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0

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:

W: Penn State 2 at RIT 3 (OT)

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // RITathletics.com recap

In a game defined, in part, by its early-period goals, RIT captain Kim Schlattman buried a rebound from a tight angle just 47 seconds into overtime to lift her Tigers (16-15-5, 7-8-5 CHA) into the CHA semifinals and send the Nittany Lions (7-26-2, 1-17-2 CHA) into the offseason following Penn State's first conference playoff series to close its first NCAA Division I season.

It was a heartbreaking conclusion to a campaign that may have been light on wins, but was certainly heavy on character. To be perfectly clear, I'm no less proud of the way the women's team closed out than I am of the men. Less than five days after Taylor Holstrom's OT winner at Wisconsin in the final 2012-2013 game for Guy Gadowsky's side, the women took a national championship squad (last year's DIII winners only had three seniors) into extra time though a comeback effort that saw PSU playing its best hockey in the third period. Nicole Paniccia was phenomenal with 54 often-spectacular saves. Taylor Gross, in addition to scoring the game's first goal off of a puck to the blue from right wing by Shannon Yoxheimer, played a incredibly gritty game, sacrificing whatever unbruised parts of her body remained in the name of the team and the playoffs. Hannah Hoenshell, who scored to tie the game at two 57 seconds into the third period, Jordin Pardoski, Micayla Catanzariti, Emily Laurenzi and Sarah Wilkie also stood out.

Here's all you need to know about my opinion of this group of players and coaches: TYT started out not really touching women's hockey (2010-2011), to then covering it with a fairly light treatment (2011-2012), cancelling my only scheduled trip to see the Lady Icers in year two due to a winter storm. This season, I attended 16 of the 35 games at four different locations - gotta hit Lindenwood and Syracuse next year to complete my CHA tour - and live blogged nine others from home, sometimes choosing women's games over the men when I felt that it was the more compelling matchup (of the remaining ten, five involved conflicts with trips for the men, three involved personal life conflicts and the other two... well, that's a long story).

I'll have more in the way of reflection over the next couple weeks, I promise. I'm begging off for now due to getting home from Rochester, via Buffalo, at about 12:30 a.m. (and anyway, half of the reason I started doing live blogs is so I wouldn't have to write extensive game recaps). Here's the RIT recap, followed by said live blog.

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Senior captain Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) scored 47 seconds into overtime to lift the RIT women’s hockey team (16-15-5) to a 3-2 victory over Penn State University (7-26-2) in game two of the best of three College Hockey America First Round Series from Ritter Arena on Saturday afternoon. RIT wins the series two games to zero and advances to the semifinals of the College Hockey America Tournament, where they will face No. 2 seed Syracuse on Friday.

Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) was able to keep the puck in the Penn State zone and fired a pass back to Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons) at the left point. Her hard shot went just wide, but the rebound caromed to Schlattman at the right side of the goal and the senior captain backhanded a shot just past Penn State goaltender Nicole Panccia, who was diving across, but just too late. The goal was Schlattman's team-best 15th of the season

RIT dominated play throughout, out-shooting Penn State 57-19. Paniccia was outstanding for the Nittany Lions, stopping 54 shots, many in spectacular fashion to be named the game's first star.

Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) and Jess Paton (Woodstock, Ontario/Waterloo K-W Rangers) scored for the Tigers. In net, Ali Binnington (Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) made 17 saves to improve to 11-9-4 in 2012-13. The Tigers were awarded just one power-play, going 0-for-1.

Taylor Gross and Hannah Hoenshell scored for the Nittany Lions, who ended the season on a 14-game winless streak. Penn State was 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.

RIT Head Coach Scott McDonald is happy that his team is moving on to the conference semifinals.

"It was a gutsy, close playoff win," said McDonald. "Our top line really came through in the clutch for us. Offensively, we controlled the game, (Penn State's) goaltender played realy well to keep it close. We are looking forward to be have a chance to be playing for our league championship next weekend."

Maugeri tallied her ninth goal of the season at the 9:22 mark, as she streaked into the Penn State zone and took a perfect feed from Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury), diving to redirect a shot past Paniccia. Emilee Bulleid (Waterdown, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres) also assisted on the goal.

From there, RIT continued to press, but Paniccia kept everything out, stopping 35-of-36 shots in a losing cause. Binnington made 16 saves to record her sixth shutout of the season and improve to 10-9-4. Her best save came with 6:45 left in the final period, as Paige Jahnke fired a shot through a screen on a power-play that Binnington turned aside.

The Tigers came out and dominated the first period, out-shooting the Nittany Lions 16-4, but the game was tied 1-1.

RIT came out determined, firing the first six shots on goal over the first 2:29, but Paniccia was outstanding, making three big saves to keep the game scoreless. That prompted Penn State Head Coach Josh Brandwene to call a timeout just 2:29 in.

From there, RIT kept coming, but Paniccia kept the puck out. Her best save came on a redirection by Brown in front about five minutes in.

Penn State shocked the Ritter Arena faithful by jumping out to the lead at the 9:56 mark. Shannon Yoxheimer caused a turnover at the right wing boards and fired a shot towards the net that Gross redirected past Binnington off the crossbar and in for her seventh goal of the season.

Brown tied the game at the 14:45 mark, circling after Lindsay Grigg (Oakville, Ontario/Oakville Hornets) won the draw, going towards the net and firing a perfect shot over the shoulder of Paniccia and just under the crossbar from a tight angle for her first goal since Jan. 27 and ninth of the season. Grigg won an offensive zone faceoff to Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects), who on a set play, tipped a pass to Brown, coming in from the left side. Brown circled around a few players and cut to the net, putting in a perfect shot for the goal.

RIT played an even better second period, firing 22 shots in the frame, while scoring the lone goal to take a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Paton gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead just 1:30 into the period, taking a feed from Erin Zach (Elmira, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) in slot, getting her first chance stopped by Paniccia, but buried her own rebound for her fourth goal of the season.

RIT had numerous chances to go up more, but Paniccia was brilliant. She robbed Yokoyama twice, once on a breakaway, and then on a point-blank chance in front after Kourtney Kunchika made a perfect feed from behind the net.

Penn State tied the game 57 seconds into the third period, as Hoenshell took a feed from Birdie Shaw at the right face-off circle and put a shot past Binnington.

From there, a frantic end of regulation ensued, as RIT peppered the Penn State net with 18 more shots, but Paniccia was once again up to the task. She made two huge saves in the final seconds on shots from Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and Danielle Read (Brantford, Ontario/Hamilton Hawks) through traffic. Melissa Bromley (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora Panthers) had a great chance early in the period, getting a rebound in the slot, but firing a shot just wide off her teammate Zach, who was standing at the side of the net.

RIT last played an overtime game in the postseason on March 16, 2012, when Grigg took a perfect feed from Yokoyama 2:30 into the extra session to score and defeat SUNY Plattsburgh 2-1 in the NCAA National Semifinal.

Since McDonald took over in 2006, RIT is now 13-6 in the postseason, including a 13-3 mark at Ritter Arena. The Tigers are 10-1 at home in the postseason since the 2009-10 season, including a 5-0 mark last year en route to winning the 2012 NCAA Division III National Championship.

Penn State-RIT Photo Gallery

Photos from Friday 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 do a 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. I may add to that tomorrow, or I may not, but for now, here are a few from the rink (with the last one from what will be a rink).

It was casual Friday for RIT's pep band

My stick shot from last week didn't include the big clubs, so I fixed that

As usual, captain Taylor Gross helps junior goaltender Nicole Paniccia warm up

Sophomore forward Tess Weaver

Freshman forward Birdie Shaw

Freshman defender-turned-center Taylor McGee

Sophomore forward Jess Desorcie (through glass, sorry about that)

Freshman forward Darby Kern

Freshman defender Sarah Wilkie

Gross

The helmets lined up on the bench is always a favorite shot

The game's opening faceoff, as seen from the press box

Josh Brandwene and the PSU bench during the third period

Pile driving at RIT's Polisseni Center - about one year after happening at PSU

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.

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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.

Penn State-Lindenwood Photo Gallery II

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

Left to right: Associate AD Joe Battista, AD Dave Joyner, head coach Josh Brandwene, and forward Kate Christoffersen, during Christoffersen's Senior Day recognition before the game

Freshman forward Birdie Shaw

Freshman forward Jill Holdcroft

Sophomore forward Jess Desorcie

Freshman forward Hannah Hoenshell

Freshman forward Shannon Yoxheimer

Freshman forward Kendra Rasmussen

Yoxheimer

Hoenshell

Christoffersen

Freshman defender Steph Walkom



Junior goaltender Nicole Paniccia

Freshman defender Sarah Wilkie

W: Penn State 3 vs. Lindenwood 3

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // LindenwoodLions.com recap

It was a win that wasn't, thanks to a brutally missed call when Taylor Gross was tripped attempting to carry out of the PSU zone with a 3-2 lead in the last minute and Lindenwood goalie Nicole Hensley on the bench - a play that directly led to Allyson Arcibal's tying goal with 42 seconds left in regulation. Officially, Penn State is now 7-20-2 (1-13-2 CHA), while Lindenwood is 4-23-3 (4-9-3 CHA), but the Nittany Lions earned two points, period. No other way to say it.

Know how bad the no-call was? It featured prominently in the generally sunny and controversy-free official recap. Here that is, followed by the live blog.

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The final Penn State women's hockey game at Greenberg Ice Pavilion was a taut affair that ended in bizarre fashion as Lindenwood tied Penn State, 3-3, on Saturday afternoon. LU's Allysson Arcibal scored an extra-attacker goal with 42 seconds remaining to force overtime after a couple of tough calls went against PSU.

Jill Holdcroft (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.) scored a go-ahead goal with five minutes left in the third period on a power play for a 3-2 lead. Jordin Pardoski (Rochester Hills, Mich.) ripped a shot from the blue line that ricocheted off the post as Holdcroft slipped the puck past LU netminder Nicole Hensley (25 saves).

With less than a minute, Lindenwood earned a faceoff in the Penn State zone. Before the teams lined up for the faceoff, Penn State attempted to call a timeout, which was denied by the officials. On the ensuing faceoff, Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the skirmish with Alyssa West and was ready to send the puck out of the defensive zone. West tripped up the junior captain as Lindenwood took control of the puck along the boards and a loose puck was knocked home by Arcibal to knot the game.

In the overtime periods, Penn State (7-20-2, 1-13-2 CHA) and Lindenwood (4-24-3, 4-9-3 CHA) combined for seven shots. Nicole Paniccia (Oakville, Ont.) had four stops and Hensley had three.

Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) opened the account 9:08 into the game, an unassisted tally where she sniped a shot past Hensley glove side. The goal was Yoxheimer's 13th of the season and ended an eight-game goal draught dating back to Jan. 4. In that eight game span, Yoxheimer still managed to get on the score sheet four times through assists. Lindenwood answered with a power-play goal 3:20 to tie the game and the two squads skated into the break, 1-1.

Penn State went ahead two minutes into the period when Birdie Shaw (Troy, Mich.) slotted home an Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.) feed. The two reversed their roles from Friday night when Laurenzi scored from Shaw's pass.

Lindenwood spent most of the second period on the power play, garnering four power-play chances and two 5-on-3 chances. Penn State killed them all off and allowed 12 shots. Seconds after the final penalty kill, Lindenwood's Katie Erickson ripped a shot that was tipped in by Lyndsay Kirkham to tie the game with 1:41 left in the period.

For the game, LU out-shot Penn State 47-28. Lindenwood had 20 of its 47 shots come on the power play, while just 4 of PSU's 28 chances were on the player-advantage. Lindenwood went 1-for-7 on the power play and PSU went 1-for-4.

Saturday was also Senior Day as Kate Christoffersen (Trumbull, Conn.) was honored beforehand with her parents, brother, PSU director of athletics Dave Joyner, associate athletic director Joe Battista and head coach Josh Brandwene.

The Nittany Lions also paid homage to its past by having women's hockey alumnae greeted on ice during the first intermission. All women's hockey alumnae have been made honorary members of Penn State's Varsity "S" Club.

Penn State travels to Rochester, N.Y. to face RIT next week in a two-game series. The Friday-Saturday set will have 7 p.m. opening faceoffs.

W: Penn State 10 vs. Chatham (NCAA DIII) 0

Box score // GoPSUSports.com recap // Chatham.edu recap

Josh Brandwene and Jordin Pardoski postgame video // GoPSUSports.com photos

The Nittany Lion women (6-12-1, 1-8-1 CHA) mauled NCAA Division III Chatham (1-8-0, 0-6-0 ECAC West) 10-0 to open the spring semester schedule Friday night at the Ice Pavilion.

Severely overmatched almost from puck drop, the Cougars - who lined up with just seven forwards and four defenders - witnessed PSU put on a stat-padding clinic. Nine of the Nittany Lions' ten goals came at even strength, helping every single PSU skater improve her plus-minus, with the defense tandem of Sarah Wilkie and Jordin Pardoski, along with forward Hannah Hoenshell, leading the way with +4 ratings. Additionally, every skater except Wilkie, Birdie Shaw and Lindsay Reihl registered at least one point and goaltenders Nicole Paniccia, Celine Whitlinger and Brooke Meyer each took one period of a shutout effort.

It's probably not worth recapping each goal in great detail, but here are a few of the highlights:

• After a surprisingly even first eight minutes of the game, Shannon Yoxheimer scored her team-high 11th and 12th goals of the season in rapid succession. The first came on the power play, with Jess Desorcie locating the Michigander slicing through the middle for the shot, while the second was a wicked snipe off of the rush just after a Paniccia blocker save.
• Hannah Hoenshell, who has to have some of the sauciest mitts in college hockey, scored two of her own - the first came just 26 seconds after Yoxheimer's second, while the other was a beautiful drag around besieged Cougars goalie Megan Buchanan late in the second period.
• Tess Weaver scored her first-ever NCAA goal at 17:06 of the first period, when she popped one past Buchanan from the right-wing circle in transition.
• Weaver skated on a line with Kendra Rasmussen and Darby Kern. All three had outstanding games, with Kern asserting a case for a continued increase in ice time. Her chip and retrieval around CU defender Abby Maier, along with the subsequent centering pass, set up one of Rasmussen's two goals.
• Last, but certainly not least, birthday girl Jordin Pardoski got the best present any hockey girl can get: a gino. Her blast at 7:54 of the second period officially turned the game from lopsided to a full-on rout.

PSU will try for a duplicate effort - while Chatham will try for better - Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Ice Pavilion.

Penn State-Mercyhurst Photo Gallery

Here are some photos I took at Mercyhurst University while visiting for Friday night's game between the Nittany Lion women and the Lakers. Click for full size.

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First up, a quick campus tour:

The Audrey Hirt Academic Center

O'Neil Tower, on the left, is Mercyhurst's signature building

Taylor Little Theatre has famous playwrights worked into the building's facade

Tullio Field, the home of Lakers football and lacrosse

Mercyhurst Ice Center's main entrance

Seeing Penn State's banner in other teams' arenas still hasn't gotten old

The Lakers are one of the most storied programs in women's hockey

The Mercyhurst Ice Center actually has chairback seats behind one goal

During pregame, Celine Whitlinger and Brooke Meyer held a conference

The Lakers enter from the corner opposite Penn State

A couple more shots from the pregame, including the next photo

The Nittany Lions on the blue line for the anthems.

The game's opening faceoff.

Casey McCullion (white coat) presides over the defensive end of the bench

Another top-down look at the bench

The team waits to step back on to the ice for the second period

Kendra Rasmussen and Jeanette Bateman attempt to win a puck battle

Hannah Hoenshell dumps in as her teammates look on