Jan. 15, 2014
By Jackson Thibodeau, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With Saturday's (Jan. 11) 2-1 overtime victory over Colgate, the Penn State women's hockey team made another significant stride towards improvement in a season filled with first-ever accomplishments.
The winning effort served as the programs first overtime victory in its two-year history and came less than 24 hours after the Nittany Lions dropped a contest that also went into an extra frame. Prior to the win, the team's all-time overtime record was 0-3-4.
"To have such a back-and-forth game again on Saturday, after the game we playing on Friday, says a lot about who this team is and how far they've come," said head coach Josh Brandwene.
On Friday (Jan. 10), the Blue and White couldn't extinguish the Raiders' comeback effort as they allowed a game-tying goal late in the third period and ultimately fell to the visitors, 3-2.
Despite the emotional loss, the team was able to bounce right back and make history in front of its home crowd the next day.
"It's all about having a little bit of time and having permission to be with your emotions," Brandwene said. "We had the ability to turn the page when the sun came up the next morning."
Brilliant goaltending from senior Nicole Paniccia and a well-executed offensive attack guided Brandwene's squad to the win on Saturday, taking some weight off the shoulders of the student-athletes.
"We obviously had a bit of a losing streak going on," Paniccia said, "so a win like that just feels so unbelievable and we are all so pumped from it."
The senior netminder had a nearly perfect outing, turning away 39 Colgate shots en route to her first win of the season. Her efforts earned her College Hockey America Goaltender of the Week honors for the first time in her collegiate career.
"I couldn't have had a game like that without my team in front of me," said Paniccia, who turned away double-digit shots in each of the three periods of regulation (13, 14 and 10).
Joining the Canadian puck stopper in collecting weekly CHA honors was sophomore Hannah Hoenshell, who assisted on the game-tying goal and scored the game-winner on Saturday in overtime. The forward collected CHA Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career behind her two-point and four-block weekend.
"It felt great to score that goal and contribute to the win, especially after losing in overtime the night before," Hoenshell said.
Both of the Nittany Lions' goals on Saturday were scored by Hoenshell's line, which features the sophomore and freshmen Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen. Bowman notched the game-tying goal on a feed from Hoenshell in the second period.
"I really enjoy playing with both Amy [Petersen] and Laura [Bowman] and I think we all work well together," Hoenshell said. "They obviously already had chemistry together coming into this season since they played together in high school, but we have really clicked."
The freshmen duo played together at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota before donning the blue and white uniforms this season.
Saturday's nail-biter snapped a five-game losing streak and a six-game winless run for the Nittany Lions and improved their record to 4-17-2 on the season.
"A win like that can really change the momentum of the season," Hoenshell said.
Hoenshell and the rest of the squad won't take the ice again until Fri., Jan. 24 when they travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange in a two game series.
"Having a weekend off after a win like that is awesome because we have two weeks ending on a win," said Paniccia. "From here we will grow from that feeling and continue to improve."