Nov. 3, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Tyler Feldman, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State displayed a terrific response on special teams this past weekend against Syracuse as all three Nittany Lion goals ¬were scored via the power play and the penalty-killing unit allowed just one Orange man advantage goal.
In its first CHA series of the season, Penn State (3-4-3, 0-1-1 CHA) fell to Syracuse (2-3-5, 1-0-1 CHA) on Friday night, 3-1, and tied on Saturday afternoon, 2-2.
"I'm really pleased with the overall effort," said head coach Josh Brandwene. "We got great play from both sides of special teams, power play and penalty kill. I love how we've responded to adversity on the road."
In Friday's contest Amy Petersen netted the team's first power play goal of the weekend. With assists from Laura Bowman and Bella Sutton, Petersen managed to even the score in the second period, before falling, 3-1.
Success on the power play continued into Saturday for the Nittany Lions as Bowman scored a special teams goal of her own to tie the tie the game in the first period, 1-1. This time around it was Petersen and Sutton with the assists.
After a Syracuse penalty with 4:20 left in the third period, Petersen notched her second power play goal of the weekend with assists by Bowman and Shannon Yoxheimer to tie the Orange, 2-2.
"It's great battles for loose pucks and maintaining zone possession time by the power play," said Brandwene. "Great communication and great vision seeing passing lanes and great poise, as well."
While Petersen pushes her goal total to eight on the season, as a team, the Nittany Lions converted on 43% (3-for-7) of their man-advantage opportunities against Syracuse.
"Certainly the success on the power play was big for us," said Brandwene. "I really, really feel good about the effort and response that we're getting. It's a total team effort out there for us."
The Penn State penalty-killing units played disciplined hockey, allowing just one Orange power play goal in six attempts.
"On the penalty kill, really good job with skating up ice and great job shutting down lanes," said Brandwene.
With such balanced play on both sides of special teams against Syracuse, Brandwene is certainly pleased with the development and progression of the power play and penalty kill so far this season.|
"It speaks to how coachable they are, and they deserve all the credit for the continued progress we are making on both sides of special teams," said Brandwene. "The continued attention to battling for every loose puck. Winning those 50/50 battles and just sustaining the intensity."
Notable first-year performances this weekend go to defenseman Bella Sutton who tallied two assists on the weekend and goaltender Hannah Ehresmann who stopped 50 shots in Friday's tie.
Having played ten games so far this season, Brandwene is happy with the adjustments and growth of the many freshmen.
"Our freshman class continues to grow," said Brandwene. "They learn. They work. They're willing to get better. I'm really appreciative of their efforts at the start of our season here."