ACHA WD2: Penn State 6 vs. Liberty 0

Geneva Wagoner scored twice in her first game at Penn State

The first college hockey game in the history of Pegula Ice Arena wasn't much of one.

Freshman Geneva Wagoner scored twice, sophomore Devon Fisk added a goal and an assist and senior captain Carly Szyszko set up three goals as Penn State steamrolled Liberty 6-0 in the regular season opener for both teams.

It didn't take those three, PSU's starting line Friday night, very long to get going. Just 29 seconds of game time after Associate Athletic Director Joe Battista's ceremonial puck drop to mark the historic contest, Szyszko motored down left wing and found Wagoner in front, where the Alexandria Bay, NY native was able to chip past Flames goaltender Leanne Niemi.

Fisk did the honors just over two and a half minutes later after a Kim Badorrek shot was knocked down in front. Liberty's Kaitlyn Scales attempted to knock the rebound to safety, but a Fisk stick lift and a couple of hacks later, it was 2-0 Penn State. Allie Rothman's bomb from left point after intercepting a clearing attempt made it 3-0 into the first intermission.

Unfortunately for the Flames, the WIHC wasn't ready to take the foot off the gas just yet. At the 4:17 mark of the second period, Tara Soukup gained the puck near center and took it herself by parting the LU defense before shelving it. Midway through the period, Szyszko found Badorrek all alone up top and the Altoona native became the third blueliner to score in the game. Wagoner's second goal from just outside the blue paint - set up by Szyszko's third assist, a quick backhanded feed - capped the scoring.

Niemi was under siege for the entire game, facing a whopping 72 shots in all, compared to just four the other way as Katie Vaughan and Sarah Eisenhut combined for a shutout.

Penn State and Liberty will meet for the second half of the series on Saturday afternoon at 6:30 p.m. in Altoona's Galactic Ice Rink.

Highlights

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Box Score

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First Period
Scoring
1. Penn State, Geneva Wagoner (Carly Szyszko), 0:31; 2. Penn State, Devon Fisk (unassisted), 3:11; 3. Penn State, Allie Rothman (unassisted), 7:55.
Penalties
1. Penn State, Tara Soukup (2:00 body checking), 3:33.
Second Period
Scoring
4. Penn State, Tara Soukup (unassisted), 4:17; 5. Penn State, Kim Badorrek (Carly Szyszko), 8:40; 6. Penn State, Geneva Wagoner (Carly Szyszko, Devon Fisk), 12:49.
Penalties
2. Penn State, Mary Kate Tonetti (2:00 roughing), 0:31.
Third Period
Scoring
None.
Penalties
None.
Goaltending
Penn State: Katie Vaughan: W, 3 saves/3 shots; Sarah Eisenhut (0:00 3rd): 1 save/1 shot. Liberty: Leanne Niemi: L, 66 saves/72 shots.