Jan. 4, 2014
 0 PENN STATE (3-16-2, 1-9-0 CHA) |
Columbus, Ohio • OSU Ice Rink • Attendance: 292 |  4 OHIO STATE (7-11-2, 2-10-2 WCHA) |
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State women's hockey squad showed signs of improvement and fight in a hard fought 3-0 loss at Ohio State Sunday evening. Senior netminder Nicole Paniccia (Oakville, Ont.) made 28 saves.
The opening frame was a tightly-contested one with Ohio State (7-11-2, 2-10-2 WCHA) firing off just eight shots, but two found the back of the net. Penn State (3-16-2, 1-9-0 CHA) had five of its own, while OSU's Kari Schmitt and Ally Tarr netted goals.
In the second, Penn State opened the period on two separate power plays in the first 6:44 with the Nittany Lions earning the first three shots including a quality look for Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas). Nevertheless, OSU capitalized going the other way as Danielle Gagne bagged sixth of the year 7:20 into the period. Paniccia was solid in net with 12 saves for PSU.
Opening the third was a rejuvenated Penn State side that traded shots with the Buckeyes in the first four minutes including a 2-on-1 by Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) set up by Hoenshell. Nevertheless, Ohio State responded just seconds later as Taylor Keuhl put away a 2-on-1 break for a 4-0 lead 4:45 into the third frame.
The Nittany Lions held the Buckeyes to 32 shots as opposed to the 50 allowed on Friday evening in an 8-0 loss. The penalty kill improved as well with Penn State killing off all three OSU opportunities, while giving up two power-play goals the night before. Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) led the PSU attack with four shots.
Penn State returns to Pegula Ice Arena next week for a two-game series against another first-time opponent in Colgate. The series will take place Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday's contest will be Youth Day with children getting in free with a paid adult.