Dec. 12, 2013
By Jackson Thibodeau, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's ice hockey team rounded out the fall semester with a tough series setback to an explosive Mercyhurst team in Erie, Pa., last weekend (Dec. 6-7). The Nittany Lions' offense was blanked in the series, dropping Friday's contest, 7-0, and Saturday's showdown, 8-0.
"We are a very competitive team so it was kind of a reality check for us," said sophomore Shannon Yoxheimer, who registered a team-high 16 shots on goal throughout the weekend. "We need to go out there and stick with how we know how to play...playing Penn State hockey...and I think we got away from that a little bit."
Although the offensive opportunities were aplenty, the Blue and White couldn't find the back of the net against the Lakers. The team placed a combined 54 shots on goal over the weekend, but dominant goaltending and rushed shot attempts kept the visitors off the board.
"We definitely had some quality chances as a team," said Yoxheimer, "but a lot of the shots just weren't falling."
The Nittany Lions fell behind early in both contests, seemingly forcing goal scorers to look for any shot on net they could find.
"We spent a lot of time in our own end so when we were transitioning, we kind of fired everything to the net," Yoxheimer said. "Some of our shots weren't the best, as in quality scoring chances, because sometimes we were just trying to get them on net."
Penn State trailed the hosts 3-0 at the end of the first period in Friday's game and 6-0 at the end of the first during Saturday's game. Sophomore goalie Celine Whitlinger defended the net in the series' first game while senior Nicole Paniccia suited up on Saturday.
Trailing by multiple goals at an early point in a game is a tough feat for any team, but head coach Josh Brandwene expressed pleasure with how the team handled the early deficits.
"The thing that I appreciate the most about this group is their resilience," he said. "The response coming out of that locker room (after the first intermission) on Saturday" was everything I would have hoped for and more."
Despite the uneven scoreboard, there were no signs of defeat or giving up during the 60 minutes of each contest.
"They had a willingness to battle every single shift," Brandwene said, "and that's something I am very proud of."
While the majority of the stat sheet didn't favor the Nittany Lions, there were some aspects of the game that showed significant promise. Freshman forwards Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen demonstrated their competitive versatility as student-athletes by contributing on offensive, defensive and special teams.
Bowman finished the weekend winning 21-of-34 face offs and Petersen impressed coaches and teammates by leading the team in blocks on Saturday.
"Laura has had herself a phenomenal first semester as a college student-athlete," Brandwene said. "I couldn't possibly be more pleased with her effort, her attitude and her play at both ends of the ice. Amy is the ultimate competitor and she gives tremendous effort...you can really see that in her shot block stats."
As the fall semester at Penn State concludes, so does the 2013 portion of the team's scheduled opponents. The Nittany Lions will go a lengthy 26 days from the Dec. 7 Mercyhurst game before squaring off with another foe.
"It will be refreshing for us to be able to go home and spend time with family," Yoxheimer said. "Our trainers will provide us with a workout over break so we don't lose all the hard work we built this week and all season."
When the team returns to the ice in January, they hope to have a collectively clear conscious as they dive into the second half of this year's schedule.
"I'm really looking for consistency on both ends of the ice," Brandwene said. "We are doing so many things so well right now but it's a matter of putting it all together...we will get there."
Next up for this young squad is a road trip to Columbus, Ohio for a series with Ohio State. The Nittany Lions will take on the rival Buckeyes on Fri., Jan. 3 at 7:07 p.m. and Sat., Jan. 4 at 4:07 p.m.