Sept. 26, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Freshman Bella Sutton (Shoreview, Minn.) shined in her Nittany Lion debut as Penn State women's hockey defeated Western, 5-2, in an exhibition Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena. Sutton struck twice and added an assist for good measure.
"(Bella) is a tremendous athlete and she's an even better teammate," Penn State head coach Josh Brandwene said. "I'm pleased with how hard she's working and certainly great for her to get off to that kind of start."
Penn State opened a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game on the power play. Sutton fired from the point and Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) slammed home the rebound just 6:09 into the game. Kelly Seward (Williamsville, N.Y.) found Sutton open on the power play.
Three minutes later, Sutton went coast to coast, picking up her own rebound off the dashers to double the lead. Penn State owned a 12-6 margin in shots. Penn State opened the game with two power-play goals, finishing 2-for-3 in the game.
In the second period, Western's power play scored on its second opportunity as Ally Galloway put away a Brianna Iazzolino effort 2:49 into the frame.
Penn State fought back when Sutton picked off a Mustang player at center ice, crossed the blue line and slapped one past WU's Peyton Parker (17 saves), for a 3-1 lead with 12:13 left in the period. Western earned a 12-8 edge in shots.
In the third it was all Penn State as the Lions racked up an 11-5 edge in shots, which resulted in two more Nittany Lion goals. Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas) redirected an Irene Kiroplis (Georgetown, Ontario) effort for a 4-2 Penn State lead only 3:25 into the period.
With 11:02 to play in the game, Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.) caused a turnover in the Western end, dished to Micayla Catanzariti (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) who went top-shelf to cap the scoring at 5-2. Laurenzi went 7-0 at the dot and Sarah Nielsen (Edina, Minn.) went 4-0. Bowman led all Nittany Lions with 11 faceoff wins.
Freshman netminder Hannah Ehresmann stopped all nine shots she saw in 29-plus minutes of action. Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 12 saves in nearly 31 minutes of play with two goals against.
Penn State officially opens its 2014-15 season with a two-game road trip to Minnesota to face the No. 1 Golden Gophers and St. Cloud State. The game vs. Minnesota is set for Friday, Oct. 3 at 8:07 p.m. ET, while the St. Cloud State game is slated for Saturday, Oct. 4 at 5:07 p.m. ET.