Oct. 18, 2012
Game Notes | Yearbook | Score Updates on @PennStateWHKY
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's hockey team travels to Sacred Heart this weekend looking to snap a three-game skid. Game one of the series takes place on Friday (7 p.m.) at the Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, Conn. Saturday's finale is set for a 2 p.m. opening face-off. PSU women's hockey (@PennStateWHKY) will have score updates of the game in lieu of live stats or live video.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (1-3-0) vs. SACRED HEART PIONEERS (0-2-0*)
Games 5-6: October 19-20, 2012 • 7 p.m. // 2 p.m. • Wonderland of Ice • Bridgeport, Conn.
* Only NCAA games
GAME DAY
VENUE: Wonderland of Ice (600)
STREAMING COVERAGE: None
SERIES RECORD: 0-0-0
LAST MEETING: First Meeting, 10/19
NEXT SERIES: 10/25-26 vs. RIT at Greenberg Ice Pavilion
GAME NOTES
• Penn State travels to Sacred Heart for two-game set on Friday and Saturday
• This is the first varsity meeting between the Lions and SHU; last season the Penn State club team split at Sacred Heart
• Nittany Lions dropped its home opening weekend to Syracuse
• Nicole Paniccia stopped a career-high 53 shots vs. Syracuse on Saturday
• Sacred Heart won two exhibition games over Rhode Island last weekend
• The Pioneers was swept in its opening weekend by RIT, falling 8-0 and 7-2
SCOUTING SACRED HEART
The Pioneers (0-2-0) are coming off two exhibition victories over the Rhode Island club team this past weekend, 7-3 and 4-1. The prior weekend, Sacred Heart lost 8-0 and 7-2 to RIT. In those two games against the Tigers, Sacred Heart was out-shot 98-25 as RIT scored the first 11 goals of the series.
Casey Stathopoulos and Natasha Klinoff tallied both of Sacred Heart's goals against RIT, while goaltender Mandy Montgomery took the loss with 28 saves. The previous night, Alexius Schutt allowed seven goals in 50 minutes of play while making 45 saves.
Against Rhode Island, the Pioneers held a 4-2 lead midway through the third period before scoring back-to-back short-handed goals to put the game away. The next game saw SHU jump out to a 3-0 lead through two periods.
Last year, the Pioneers faced the Penn State club team with a series split. Sacred Heart took the first game, 4-3, while Penn State won the second game, 3-2, in overtime.
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State was overmatched in a pair of shutout losses to CHA rival Syracuse this past weekend. The games served as Penn State's inaugural home opener and first CHA matchups. Syracuse took the first game 4-0 despite Nicole Paniccia's career-high 53 saves. Syracuse led 2-0 going into the third but pulled away late.
While Penn State came out with more engergy in the second game, the score was 2-0 in favor of the visiting side after two. Syracuse put the game away with four third-period goals. Freshman goalie Celine Whitlinger made 38 saves.
HISTORIC FIRST WIN
Penn State women's hockey made history on Saturday, Oct. 6 at Vermont's Gutterson Fieldhouse by winning its inaugural game, 5-3. The Nittany Lions scored five goals from three freshmen making their respective debuts as junior goaltender Nicole Paniccia made 31 saves in her PSU opener. Shannon Yoxheimer and Micayla Catanzariti each scored twice for the Nittany Lions.
Down 2-1, Penn State was not to be deterred, reeling off three straight goals to take a 4-2 lead midway through the third period. Despite a Vermont goal with 6:34 left in the third, Birdie Shaw scored an empty-net goal to seal the Nittany Lion victory. Junior captain Taylor Gross made her Penn State debut known with two assists and was named the first star of the game, Yoxheimer was second.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Penn State had a varsity team debut for the first time since 1994 (women's soccer) when the women's hockey team defeated Vermont, 5-3. The successful debut was the first since 1977 when the men's volleyball team defeated East Stroudsburg.
Game: Oct. 6, 2012 at Vermont, 2:00 p.m.
Win: Nicole Paniccia, Oct. 6 at Vermont, 5-3
Goal: Shannon Yoxheimer
Multi-Goal Game: Micayla Catanzariti
Game-Winning Goal: Shannon Yoxheimer
Assists: Taylor Gross, Emily Laurenzi
Multi-Assist Game: Jess Desorcie
Faceoff: Emily Laurenzi
Faceoff win: Emily Laurenzi
Shot: Katie Zinn
Save: Nicole Paniccia
Empty-Net Goal: Birdie Shaw
CATANZARITI HONORED
Freshman forward Micayla Catanzariti was named College Hockey America's Rookie of the Week on Oct. 8. Catanzariti led the Nittany Lions to a win in their inaugural opener on Saturday with two goals and an assist at Vermont. Catanzariti was also named Highmark's Penn State Women's Student-Athlete of the Week.
PUCK STOPPERS
Penn State has relied on steady goaltending all season in the form of Nicole Paniccia and Celine Whitlinger. The duo saw 77 shots and made 71 saves (.922), paced by Whitlinger's 40 stops at Vermont. Paniccia picked up the first win in school history on Oct. 6. This past weekend, Paniccia made a school-record and career-high 53 saves against Syracuse while Whitlinger made 38 stops in Sunday's loss.
SCORING STREAK
Penn State opened its varsity account in scoring fashion, scoring in the first four periods. The Nittany Lions tallied one goal in the opening frame, then two in each of the next two periods before scoring once in the opening period of game two. Vermont held the Nittany Lions scoreless over the final 50:12 of Sunday's game. This past weekend Penn State was held scoreless by Syracuse.
FIRST HEAD COACH
A 1991 graduate of Penn State, head coach Josh Brandwene is the first to lead the Nittany Lions. A four-year hockey player at PSU, Brandwene brings 20 years of coaching experience to Happy Valley. Brandwene picked up his first win in the team's debut on Saturday at Vermont.
CAPTAIN, OUR CAPTAIN
Junior forward Taylor Gross will lead Penn State as its first captain. The University of Connecticut transfer appeared in 48 games for the Huskies before joining Penn State's club side in January 2012. In September, the team voted fellow UConn transfer Jenna Welch and senior defender Lindsay Reihl as assistant captains. Gross tallied two assists in the win over Vermont on Saturday.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
As is expected with a brand new varsity program, there are many freshmen on the team--17 in all. Thus far, 13 freshman have made an appearance on the ice.
Player // GP // G-A-Pts.
Jeanette Bateman // 4 // 0-0-0
Micayla Catanzariti // 4 // 2-1-3
Hannah Hoenshell // - // 0-0-0
Jill Holdcroft // 4 // 0-0-0
Paige Jahnke // 4 // 0-0-0
Darby Kern // - // 0-0-0
Emily Laurenzi // 4 // 0-1-1
Taylor McGee // 4 // 0-1-1
Jordin Pardoski // 4 // 0-0-0
Kendra Rasmussen // 3 // 0-0-0
Birdie Shaw // 4 // 2-1-3
Stephanie Walkom // - // 0-0-0
Sarah Wilkie // 2 // 0-0-0
Shannon Yoxheimer // 4 // 2-0-2
Katie Zinn // 4 // 0-0-0
Player // GP // GAA // SV // Pct.
Brooke Meyer // - // - // - // -
Celine Whitlinger // 2 // 4.55 // 78 // .897
CONTINUING PENN STATE HOCKEY
Eight members of the current varsity team played for the women's club team at some point. Seniors Lindsay Reihl and Kate Christoffersen and sophomores Cara Mendelson, Katie Murphy, Madison Smiddy and Tess Weaver played all of last season for head coach Josh Brandwene in Penn State's last year at the club level. Reihl and Christoffersen played three years for the PSU club team as well. Taylor Gross and Jess Desorcie joined the six players midway through the season in preparation of the 2012-13 season.
ON SCHEDULE
Pegula Ice Arena, a $90 million state-of-the-art facility, will serve as the home of the Penn State hockey programs in 2012-13. As of Oct. 1, 2012, almost all the steel has been put in place for the project. Construction is set to conclude in time for the 2012-13 season.
For more information on Pegula Ice Arena, visit page 5 of the game notes.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Nittany Lions return home for a two-game series beginning Thursday (7 p.m.) against RIT. The series will conclude on Friday (7:30 p.m.) ahead of the Penn State football weekend against Ohio State. Both games will be shown live on AmericaOneSports.com and have live stats through GameTracker on GoPSUsports.com.
--NITTANY LIONS--