ACHA WD2: Penn State 3 vs. North Dakota State 3

Elizabeth Denis tallied twice to help PSU gain seeding position with a tie against North Dakota State

With advancement to the ACHA semifinals already locked up, the Women's Ice Hockey Club ensured at least the third seed in the final four with a wild 3-3 tie against North Dakota State Friday evening in Ashburn, VA. The result wrapped up the preliminary round of the tournament for PSU with a 2-0-1 record, although the WIHC will now have to wait for the last two tournament games of the night to learn their semifinal opponent and the time on Saturday the match will be played.

The Bison got on the board first, just 55 seconds from puck drop, after Jaqueline Johnson slipped an innocent-looking backhand through from the right circle that appeared to change up Katie Vaughan. PSU finally capitalized on their 14-7 shot advantage in the opening 17 minutes late in the period, when Elizabeth Denis scooped up a puck in the neutral zone, powered down left wing all alone, and popped in her own backhander.

NDSU regained the advantage 6:16 into the second period via Kacie Johnson, who tallied in transition on the power play just after a missed shorthanded opportunity, but once again, Penn State had a late-period answer. With 1:11 remaining and just after a long 5-on-3 had expired, Carly Szyszko scored by circling into the middle slot and sniping, with an assist going to Mary Kate Tonetti.

Penn State took its first lead of the game on the power play five minutes into the third period. Following some fantastic in-zone movement, Allie Rothman made a D-to-D pass to Tara Soukup, who fired in to Denis in front of the net, where the grad student earned her Ph.D. in tucking the puck just inside the post to NDSU goalie Hannah Seitz's right. Kacie Johnson added her second just 1:50 later by rifling a shot past Sarah Eisenhut's blocker from the right-wing circle to re-knot the game. However, the last 15:18 of play (including a five-minute overtime) failed to produce a winner despite four NDSU penalties in the late stages of the third period and overtime and a 10-3 shooting advantage for the WIHC during the extra period.

Eisenhut relieved Vaughan at the first intermission and received a baptism by fire through several NDSU flurries, but was spectacular in making 20 often-difficult saves.

Highlights

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Here are Penn State's first and third goals.



Box Score

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First Period
Scoring
1. North Dakota State, Jacqueline Johnson (Breanna Taralson), 0:55; 2. Penn State, Elizabeth Denis (unassisted), 14:51.
Penalties
None.
Second Period
Scoring
3. North Dakota State, Kacie Johnson (unassisted), 6:16 (power play); 4. Penn State, Carly Szyszko (Mary Kate Tonetti), 15:49.
Penalties
1. Penn State, Tara Soukup (2:00 roughing), 0:56; 2. Penn State, Tara Soukup (2:00 body checking), 5:49; 3. North Dakota State, Hannah Pilger (2:00 body checking), 13:06; 4. North Dakota State, Kacie Johnson (2:00 slashing), 13:47.
Third Period
Scoring
5. Penn State, Elizabeth Denis (Tara Soukup, Allie Rothman), 4:52 (power play); 6. North Dakota State, Kacie Johnson (Marisa Holst), 6:42.
Penalties
5. North Dakota State, Ellen Lanman (2:00 roughing), 3:33; 6. North Dakota State, Jacqueline Johnson (2:00 body checking), 12:58; 7. North Dakota State, Sarah Biesterveld (2:00 body checking), 15:31.
Overtime
Scoring
None.
Penalties
8. North Dakota State, Ellie Dahl (2:00 tripping), 0:15; 9. North Dakota State, Ellie Dahl (2:00 interference), 2:56; 10. Penn State, Allie Rothman (2:00 holding), 4:00.
Goaltending
Penn State: Katie Vaughan: 6 saves/7 shots; Sarah Eisenhut (0:00 2nd): T, 20 saves/22 shots. North Dakota State: Hannah Seitz: T, 36 saves/39 shots.