ACHA WD2: Penn State 7 vs. Liberty 0

Head coach Pat Fung and the team observe the early stages of the third period

Following Friday night's dominating 6-0 win over Liberty to open the 2013-14 season, some people may have thought that there was no way a team could issue a more coldly-efficient beating.

Those people, should they exist, were wrong.

Jackie Saideh - while playing forward - and Devon Fisk each recorded hat tricks, and Anna Marcus scored her first Penn State goal as the Women's Ice Hockey Club rolled Liberty 7-0 Saturday evening in Altoona. PSU is now 2-0 on the young season despite the absences of key regulars Allie Rothman and Elizabeth Denis.

Measuring the WIHC's performance may best be done through the shot count: 82-3, a margin that topped even Friday night's 72-4.

Still goals, not just shots, are needed to win games. Fortunately, Penn State got plenty of those too.

Saideh got things going 2:54 into the game by pouncing on a muffed clearing attempt after linemate Lucy Yeatman worked the puck to the front. Her second goal, the 3-0 tally, came from a nice Tara Soukup pinch at the left point that kept the play alive. Yeatman then wound up with the puck on the opposite side and found Saideh in the middle, where a second attempt found twine.

Fisk traded goals with the Massachusetts native in that first period, collecting the game's second score 4:32 in. Mary Kate Tonetti won a battle on the left-wing wall and left it for Fisk, who did the rest by dangling to the front, including around both Flames defenders, and burying. She then made the score 4-0 into the first intermission after Carly Szyszko threw a quick backhanded pass into the slot where both she and Geneva Wagoner were waiting, with the former eventually doing the honors after an earned 50-50 puck.

The only goal of the second period came off the stick of Marcus. She took a feed from Saideh in the neutral zone and swooped in on Liberty goalie Leanne Niemi, faking a shot before shifting to the backhand and sliding it home.

Fisk and Saideh both polished off the win by completing their three-goal outings in the final period. Saideh went first, cashing in yet another loose puck after Kim Badorrek's shot was knocked down in front. Fisk's effort was similar, as she finished a partially deflected Wagoner shot.

Sarah Eisenhut played the entire game in goal and earned her first shutout of the season.

PSU will be off next week before heading to the Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon, PA on October 11th and 12th to take on 2013 ACHA National Tournament participant California in the first College Hockey East games of the season.

Box Score

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First Period
Scoring
1. Penn State, Jackie Saideh (unassisted), 2:54; 2. Penn State, Devon Fisk (Mary Kate Tonetti), 4:32; 3. Penn State, Jackie Saideh (Lucy Yeatman), 11:17; 4. Penn State, Devon Fisk (Geneva Wagoner, Carly Szyszko), 12:32.
Penalties
None.
Second Period
Scoring
5. Penn State, Anna Marcus (Jackie Saideh), 8:33.
Penalties
None.
Third Period
Scoring
6. Penn State, Jackie Saideh (Anna Marcus), 5:28; 7. Penn State, Devon Fisk (Geneva Wagoner), 10:17.
Penalties
None.
Goaltending
Penn State: Sarah Eisenhut: W, 3 saves/3 shots. Liberty: Leanne Niemi: L, 75 saves/82 shots.