Oct. 26, 2013
 5 PENN STATE (2-4-1, 0-0-0 CHA) |
Box Score University Park, Pa. • Pegula Ice Arena • Attendance: 493 |  8 NEW HAMPSHIRE (3-4-0) |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's hockey team tried its best but couldn't keep up with New Hampshire in an 8-5 loss on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena. Five different Nittany Lions registered goals as the two teams combined to score 13 goals in the contest, the most in PSU program history.
Penn State (2-4-1, 0-0-0 CHA) had leads of 1-0 and 4-3, but couldn't hold on as New Hampshire (4-2-1, 1-0-1 Hockey East) scored five of the final six goals in the game. UNH pulled away by breaking a 5-5 deadlock with three straight goals over the last 3:39.
Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.), Sarah Nielsen (Edina, Minn.), Jess Desorcie (Westford, Vt.), Kelly Seward (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tallied goals for Penn State.
Penn State got off to their quickest start in program history when Bowman slipped a shot past Vilma Vaattovaara (23 saves) to put the Nittany Lions up 1-0 just 40 seconds into the game. Jordin Pardoski (Rochester Hills, Mich.) supplied the pass from the point to Bowman who was stationed in the corner on the goal line. Her tight-angled goal was her fourth tally of the year.
The Nittany Lions relinquished their early lead when Heather Kashman scored a minute after Penn State killed off their first penalty with just less than 14 minutes remaining in the period. New Hampshire took the lead with 10:33 remaining on a Caroline Broderick power-play goal, one of three scored by the Wildcats Friday evening.
Penn State's power play fought back as Nielsen potted her first collegiate goal on assists from Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) and Paige Jahnke (Oakdale, Minn.) just 40 seconds into the second period to knot the score at two.
UNH's Kayla Mork tallied her first of the year 4:00 into the frame and Penn State answered at 11:20 on Desorcie's first goal of the season. Birdie Shaw (Troy, Mich.) flung in a puck from the slot that was deflected to Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas.) Hoenshell tipped it past Vaattovaara to Desorcie who was sitting on the doorstep as the game remained 3-3 after two periods of play.
Keeping with Penn State's quick starts, Seward blasted a power-play tally from the point, her third goal of the season and second on the power play, just 31 seconds into the third period. Penn State's 4-3 lead was short-lived as Cassandra Vilgrain scored 14 seconds later to tie the score at four.
The 4-4 game lasted over eight minutes until Arielle O'Neill put the Wildcats ahead on a power-play goal at 9:01. Penn State again answered with a power-play goal of its own as Gross cleaned up a loose puck at 11:20 in the third period. The goal was set up by Yoxheimer and Hoenshell. The duo had two assists apiece Friday.
New Hampshire took the lead for good on a Jenna Lascelle marker with 3:39 to go in the game. The Wildcats punched in an insurance goal with 2:21 left in the game from O'Neill's stick, her third goal of the season. Nicole Gifford sent home an empty-netter in the game's final 27 seconds for the final 8-5 score line.
Gross, Yoxheimer and Hoenshell led Penn State's offense with two points each. Defensively, Lindsay Reihl (Cheshire, Conn.) and Seward each blocked three shots with Sarah Wilkie (Ashby, Mass.), Reihl and Pardoski leading PSU's defense with a plus-one rating. In net, Nicole Paniccia (Oakville, Ont.) saved 28 Wildcat attempts.
UNH went 3-for-5 on the power play while Penn State went 3-for-6, the first time in school history the team scored three power-play goals. Nielsen led the faceoff battle with an 11-6 record at the dot.
The two teams rematch tomorrow afternoon with a 2 p.m. opening faceoff at Pegula Ice Arena.