Nov. 23, 2013
 4 PENN STATE (3-12-1, 1-7-0 CHA) |
Box Score Wentzville, Mo. • Lindenwood Ice Arena |  1 LINDENWOOD (1-13-2, 1-4-1 CHA) |
WENTZVILLE, Mo. - Penn State women's hockey earned its first CHA win of the season behind a balanced offense and great goaltending performance in a 3-1 win at Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon at Lindenwood Ice Arena.
Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) saved 36 shots as Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas), Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) tallied goals. Hoenshell and Yoxheimer led the Nittany Lions with two points apiece.
"To face the adversity we have," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "And to respond in the manner we did today says so much about this group. I'm very proud of the total team effort."
Penn State (3-12-1, 1-7-0 CHA) scored first for the fifth straight game as Hoenshell swept around the back of the net and fired a left-winged wrister that snuck by Nicole Hensley (27 saves) just 1:41 into the contest. It was the second goal of the year for the Texan, which was supplied by a Sarah Nielsen (Edina, Minn.) assist, her fifth of the year.
The Nittany Lions would double the lead with six minutes remaining in the first period as Yoxheimer fed Gross for her team-leading sixth goal of the year. The helper was Yoxheimer's sixth of the season as PSU held an 11-10 edge in shots.
Penn State was opportunistic in the second period, which was mostly controlled by Lindenwood (1-13-2, 1-4-1 CHA) as the LU owned a 16-7 edge in shots. Four minutes into the stanza, Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) picked off an errant Lindenwood exchange at the blue line and quickly snapped a pass to Bowman on the left wing. Bowman made no mistake and gave Penn State its largest lead of the year, 3-0.
It looked as though Penn State would enter the second intermission up three, but a fortuitous bounce allowed Kendra Broad to knock home a goal with just 31 seconds remaining and Penn State led 3-1 after 40 minutes. Whitlinger stopped 15 shots in the second period, which was in between periods of 10 and 11 saves in the first and third periods, respectively. Whitlinger has been in net for all three Penn State victories this season.
In the third period, which was more favorable to the Nittany Lions, Yoxheimer let loose a rocket of a slap shot that went top shelf seven minute into the period. The power-play goal was set up by Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.) and Hoenshell. The goal broke a 10-game scoring drought for the sophomore who hadn't scored since Oct. 18 against Union.
For the contest, Penn State was out-shot 37-31 by Lindenwood, while holding LU scoreless on the power play for the second straight day at 0-for-3. Penn State was 1-for-4 on the player advantage. Penn State owned the faceoff battle, 44-32, as Bowman went 13-8, Nielsen 9-5 and Yoxheimer 4-0.
Defensively, seven Nittany Lions registered two blocks or more as the team knocked 18 shots away from reaching Whitlinger's net. Gross led the way with three, while Jeanette Bateman (Greeley, Colo.), Jill Holdcroft (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.), Sarah Wilkie (Ashby, Mass.), Hoenshell, Bowman and Laurenzi each blocked two. Kelly Seward (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Lindsay Reihl (Cheshire, Conn.) each earned game-high ratings of plus-two.
The Nittany Lions improved to 2-3-1 all-time against Lindenwood, while PSU broke a nine-game losing streak. The four goals was one shy of Penn State's high of five, which was registered in a tough 8-5 loss to New Hampshire on Oct. 26.
Penn State returns home on Saturday, Nov. 30 for a 2 p.m. game against Maine at Pegula Ice Arena. Fans attending the contest are encouraged to bring a new or gently used unwrapped toy to the game for free admittance at Gate A. All toys will be donated to Toys for Tots.