Feb. 23, 2013
NEVILLE ISLAND, Pa. - Penn State women's hockey closed out its first regular season with a 4-1 loss against Robert Morris at 84 Lumber Arena on Saturday afternoon. Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) scored for the 14th time this season, while Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 53 saves. Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tallied her fifth goal of the season in the third period.
Robert Morris (13-14-3, 9-10-1 CHA) got on the board first when Rebecca Vint scored on a Thea Imbrogno helper with 4:39 left in the first period. Penn State (7-24-2, 1-17-2 CHA) wasted little time in its reply, 24 seconds in fact, as Yoxheimer dashed down the right wing, cut to the slot and ripped a shot past Kristen DiCiocco's left shoulder. Gross and Sarah Wilkie (Ashby, Mass.) assisted the play as Wilkie tallied her first collegiate point.
From there, RMU would score the next three goals: an extra attacker goal by Dayna Newsome 3:54 into the second, a Kyle St. Louis tally 16:41 into the second and a Cobina Delaney marker 9:26 into the third period.
Penn State never gave up despite a mounting flurry of Robert Morris shots. On a power play opportunity with just 6:08 remaining, Gross fired a shot that resulted in a mad scramble in front of DiCiocco's net. Gross finally poked home a goal off the stick of Yoxheimer to cut the lead to 4-2.
The Nittany Lions could not draw any closer as Robert Morris swept the season series, 4-0-0. Penn State was more competitive with each passing game against RMU following a 7-1 loss on Nov. 10. The Colonials won 4-1, 4-1 and 4-2 in the final games of the series.
Penn State will have to wait until the middle of the week to learn its destination for the CHA Tournament. Lindenwood and Syracuse play a two-game series starting Tuesday night after the original games on Friday-Saturday were postponed due to travel conditions in the Midwest. If LU can't sweep all four points, Penn State travels to RIT for the best-of-three series starting Friday, March 1.
--NITTANY LIONS--