Jan. 10, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion women's hockey squad couldn't hold on to a late third-period lead as Colgate netted a power-play goal in overtime in a 3-2 Raider victory on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena. Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Jill Holdcroft (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.) tallied goals to pace the Penn State offense.
Penn State (3-17-2, 1-9-0 CHA) played one of its finest periods of the season in the second frame, out-shooting Colgate (5-13-2, 2-8-0 ECAC) 15-7 and scoring twice. Down 1-0, Holdcroft created a turnover deep in Raider territory and lifted a goal into the top shelf 6:43 into the period. The unassisted tally was her fourth of the year.
Later on, Penn State's aggressive forecheck paid dividends as Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) managed to keep the puck alive at the blue line and create a turnover that bounced to Gross. The senior captain made no mistake, slapping home her team-leading seventh goal of the year into the left-side netting for a 2-1 lead with 4:58 remaining in the period. The helper was Yoxheimer's seventh of the season.
The third period was another matter for the Nittany Lions as Colgate controlled possession and pinned Penn State for much of the frame. Colgate owned a 13-4 edge in shots with Taylor Volpe sending home a loose puck with just 2:05 remaining in the third period.
In overtime, Yoxheimer fired the first shot of the frame, but a minor penalty put Colgate on the power play for the fourth time in the game. A puck played to the point came to Katie Case as her blast was initially saved by Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.), but trickled through and Volpe pounced to put the game away.
Whitlinger played well all game and finished with 29 saves for the game. Her counterpart Brittney Brooks totaled 30 saves.
The Nittany Lions and Raiders each fired 32 shots in the game and both teams had four power-play opportunities. Penn State failed to score a power-play goal for the sixth straight game. PSU earned a 30-25 advantage in the faceoff circle with Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) going 13-7.
The Nittany Lion scoring woes came to an end as Holdcroft's goal broke a scoring drought totaling nearly 292 minutes following four straight shutouts against Mercyhurst and Ohio State. Penn State drops to 1-9-0 all-time against ECAC Hockey teams.
The Nittany Lions and Raiders reprise their roles as adversaries on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. game at Pegula Ice Arena. The game will be streamed live on BTN.com.