Jan. 2, 2013
Game Notes | Live Video ($) | | | Yearbook
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Nittany Lion women's hockey team hosts a two-game series this weekend at Greenberg Ice Pavilion against Chatham. The opening face-offs are set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be carried live on AmericaOneSports.com ($) and have live stats. All Penn State women's hockey games are free.
PROMOTIONS
Friday: The first 150 fans will receive Penn State hockey hats. Saturday: Fans for the series finale will receive Penn State hockey water bottles.
ADMISSION & PARKING
Fans attending this weekend's games are able to park for free in the surrounding Orange Lots C, F or G. If the free lots are full, paid parking can be found in the Eisenhower Deck located on Eisenhower Road off Bigler Road. Parking is prohibited in the Nittany Apartments lots and there will not be shuttle service from Orange Lot H.
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (5-12-1, 1-8-1 CHA) vs. CHATHAM COUGARS (1-7-0, 0-6-0 ECAC West)
Games 19-20: Jan. 4-5, 2013 // 7:30 p.m. & 7 p.m. // Greenberg Ice Pavilion // University Park, Pa.
GAME DAY
VENUE: Greenberg Ice Pavilion (1,300)
STREAMING COVERAGE: AmericaOneSports.com Video
SERIES RECORD: 0-0-0
LAST MEETING: n/a, First Meeting, Jan. 4
NEXT SERIES: Jan. 11-12 at Union
GAME NOTES
• Penn State kicks off 2013 by hosting Chatham on Friday and Saturday
• Nittany Lions and Chatham have not met as varsity programs
• Chatham tied Penn State's club team twice in 2011 in Pittsburgh
• Penn State coming off 26-day layoff and hasn't played at home since Nov. 11
• Last time out, PSU fell to 2011 NCAA Tournament team St. Lawrence, 3-1 and 4-2
• Celine Whitlinger was named CHA Rookie of the Week for making 45 saves at SLU
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Chatham (1-7-0, 0-6-0 ECAC West) is coming off a 5-0 exhibition win over California (Pa.) on Dec. 8. Previously, the Cougars dropped a series at Oswego State, 6-1 and 4-0. On Nov. 17, Chatham broke a 40-game losing streak by defeating Buffalo State, 5-2.
Chatham has been outscored 41-7 by its oppenents as sophomore goaltender Megan Buchanan seeing most of the time in the net. Buchanan leads the team in minutes (452:17), saves (322), save percentage (.904) and goals-against average (4.51). Offensively, junior forward Morgan Becer paces the Cougars with two goals and two assists. Becer has the most career points of any Cougar with 10. Sophomore defender Gina Abrego has a goal and three assists and leads the team in penalties (8 for 16 minutes).
Last season, the Cougars faced Penn State's club side in Pittsburgh, earning two draws. The opening matchup was a 0-0 stalemate with Chatham's Buchanan making 45 saves. The next day, the two teams again skated to a tie, this time 2-2. Defender Lindsay Reihl tallied an assist in that game for the Nittany Lions.
TIME OFF
Both Penn State and Chatham have not played a game since Dec. 8, a span of 26 days. For the Nittany Lions, PSU hasn't hosted a home game since Nov. 11, when it fell 4-1 to Robert Morris. In all, it will be a 44-day break for Penn State between home games. After this weekend's series, the Nittany Lions won't host another home game for three weeks when they welcome Princeton to Greenberg Ice Pavilion on Jan. 29 (7 p.m.).
SAINTS ESCAPE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State battled St. Lawrence Friday night (Dec. 7), but ultimately fell to the Saints, 3-1, on the road in Canton, N.Y. Freshman Jill Holdcroft netted her fifth goal of the season on a power play in the second period, but St. Lawrence responded with a two-goal final frame to put away the Nittany Lions. Celine Whitlinger, in her third start of the season, denied a career-high 45 shots in goal, besting her previous record of 40 set against Vermont Oct. 7. Whitlinger was aided by a stingy Nittany Lion defense that totaled 17 blocked shots to hold St. Lawrence to just a pair of goals before an empty-netter sealed the final score at 3-1. Jenna Welch led the way by getting in front of three attempts.
On Saturday, Dec. 8, Penn State pulled within one late in the third period, but could not complete the comeback against St. Lawrence as the Saints skated to a 4-2 victory to earn the series sweep. Jess Desorcie scored early, assisted by Taylor Gross and Shannon Yoxheimer for a 1-0 lead. Down 3-1, Hanna Hoenshell scored her fifth of the season midway through the third period. SLU managed a power-play goal with less than two minutes to play for the 4-2 final. Nicole Paniccia made 54 saves in goal for the Lions.
WHITLINGER NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman netminder Celine Whitlinger's career night at St. Lawrence on Friday, Dec. 7, translated into her first collegiate honor: College Hockey America Rookie of the Week. Whitlinger earned Penn State's second CHA Rookie of the Week this season after Micayla Catanzariti's honor on Oct. 8.
Whitlinger made stop after stop on as the Nittany Lions looked to upset established St. Lawrence. The California native posted 45 saves in all as Penn State fell 3-1. St. Lawrence went to the NCAA Tournament last season and is among the best teams in the ECAC Hockey.
The rest of the game notes can be found in the PDF document.
PEGULA ICE ARENA 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 Jan. 2, 2013, all the steel has been put in place for the project with installation of glass and some brick on the outside.
The building held its official topping off ceremony on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. Construction is set to conclude in time for the 2012-13 season as the building will open Sept. 5, 2013.
Pegula Ice Arena Video Tour
For more information on Pegula Ice Arena, visit page 8 of the game notes.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State hits the road when it travels to Schenectady, N.Y. on Jan. 11-12 to face Union. Game times are 7 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Nittany Lions then take a week off before returning to conference play at Syracuse (Jan. 25-26).
--NITTANY LIONS--