Nov. 16, 2013
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Penn State women's hockey team opened a 2-0 lead at RIT, but couldn't hold on as the Tigers won 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Ritter Arena. Sophomore Jill Holdcroft (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.) recorded her first two-goal game and the program's first short-handed goal in the first period. Goaltender Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 37 saves.
The first period went well for the Nittany Lions as Holdcroft staked a 2-0 lead for Penn State. She tallied her first power-play goal of the year on an Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.) feed 8:01 into the first period. Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) picked up an assist as well on the play winning the faceoff.
Five minutes later, an RIT turnover on a Tiger power play was intercepted by Holdcroft as she beat Ali Binnignton for the first short-handed goal in Penn State history. It was Holdcroft's third goal of the year and second unassisted tally with 6:36 remaining in the frame.
The second period saw Holdcroft nearly grab a natural hat trick in the opening minutes, but Binnington was there for the save. From the initial three-shot showing by Penn State, the period belonged to RIT. The Tigers eventually cut the lead in half on a 5-on-3 power-play goal by Marissa Maugeri from Celeste Brown and Dakota Waites with just 2:37 left.
Maugeri was at it again just 1:43 into the third period knocking home a rebound from Emily Bulleid. At 7:35, the Tigers took their first lead of the game on the seventh power play as Erin Zach sent home a Maugeri offering.
The Nittany Lions pulled Whitlinger with a minute and a half remaining and garnered several quality chances, but Binnington was there for all of them and earned the Tigers a sweep of the series.
Penn State fell to 0-7-1 against the Tigers and held a lead in the third period for the third straight game, unfortunately coming away with three losses. The last four matchups with the Tigers have been one-goal games.
RIT held a 40-23 edge in shots and a 34-28 advantage in faceoff victories. The Nittany Lions were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Tigers were 2-for-7, cashing in on two of their last three extra-player opportunities.
Penn State returns to action Friday and Saturday for a road series at Lindenwood. Friday's game is set for 8 p.m. ET, while Saturday's contest will start at 3 p.m. ET.