Feb. 1, 2014
 1 PENN STATE (4-21-3, 1-12-1 CHA) |
Box Score | Photo Gallery  Pegula Ice Arena • University Park, Pa. • Attendance: 1,795 |  3 RIT (13-12-3, 8-4-2 CHA) |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A Pegula Ice Arena record crowd of 1,795 witnessed Penn State and RIT Skate for the Cure Saturday afternoon as the Tigers won 3-1. The Nittany Lions raised over $5,000, which will benefit THON and WBCA Pink Zone.
Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) tallied PSU's lone goal. The nearly 1,800 fans broke the PSU women's hockey record of 1,424, which was set in the women's opener vs. Union on Oct. 18, 2013.
"To shatter our attendance record today was a really cool thing. In so many ways it was a special day," Josh Brandwene said. "It was a great effort by both teams, we're all just bummed that we came out on the wrong side of the result. The people that needed to win today won today: that's the children of THON, and Pink Zone."
Skate for the Cure is an annual game that each team in College Hockey America hosts for breast cancer awareness. Penn State (4-21-3, 1-12-1 CHA) donned special light pink jerseys and the officiating crew joined in with black and dark pink jerseys. Prior to the game, PSU captain Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and RIT captain Celeste Brown joined Penn State Associate Athletic Director Charmelle Green for a ceremonial puck drop.
In a free flowing first period that saw few whistles, Nicole Paniccia (Oakville, Ont.) stood tall with 12 saves and Bowman was opportunistic at the end of the frame to put the Nittany Lions on top.
Bowman stole a loose puck at RIT's blue line, charged in the zone and unleashed a shot that got through Tiger goalie Brooke Stoddart for a 1-0 lead with just 13 seconds left in the first. The goal was Bowman's eighth of the season to give her the team lead.
The second period started out positive for the Nittany Lions with 1:57 of a power play remaining from the opening stanza. PSU put four early shots on frame and nearly took a 2-0 lead on several scoring chances, but RIT (13-12-3, 8-4-2 CHA) was able to fend off the Penn State attack. Ultimately, the Tigers took control midway through the period as Dakota Waites won a faceoff in PSU's zone and rushed forward to net and tossed a well-timed pass to Brown to tie the game at one. The goal came 9:46 into the period and was RIT's lone power-play goal in four opportunities.
With just over three minutes remaining in the second period, RIT would go ahead on Mackenzie Stone's coast-to-coast effort, sliding a puck inside the right post past Paniccia, who stopped 19 shots in the second period. RIT held a 21-8 edge in shots for the middle 20 minutes.
The Tigers made it 3-1 at 10:02 on a Kolbee McCrea effort assited by Marissa Maugeri and Erin Zach, all three of which feature as RIT's top line.
Penn State should've cut it to a single goal with 5:09 left in the game as Bowman's cross-ice pass found an open Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas) on a 2-on-1 break, but Stoddart (18 saves) made the side-to-side save to preserve the score.
RIT led in most stat categories, earning a 47-19 margin in shots and going 1-for-4 on the power play, while Penn State was 0-for-4. Penn State earned decided advantages in faceoff wins (43-27) and blocked shots (17-11).
Bowman was 15-13 at the faceoff dot, while Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.) was 13-6 and Sarah Nielsen (Edina, Minn.) was 8-4. Jordin Pardoski (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Kendra Rasmussen (Sartell, Minn.) each blocked three shots.
Penn State hosts Lindenwood for a two-game series Saturday and Sunday at Pegula Ice Arena. Lindenwood is coming off a 4-2 upset of No. 8 Robert Morris in Missouri this weekend. Game times are set for Noon each day.