Dec. 5, 2014
5 Penn State (8-6-3, 3-3-1 CHA) |
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) Pittsburgh, Pa. • 84 Lumber Arena • Attendance: 201 | 0 Robert Morris (4-11-3, 1-4-2 CHA) |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Dec. 5, 2014 - Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 42 saves for her second-straight shutout and the Nittany Lions scored a goal less than 1:15 into both the second and third periods, leading Penn State to a gritty 5-0 win over Robert Morris on Friday.
With the win, Penn State's first over Robert Morris, the 2014 Nittany Lions now hold the program record for wins in a season (8).
With three minutes left in the opening stanza, the Nittany Lions (8-6-3, 3-3-1 CHA) counteracted a solid offensive start for Robert Morris (4-11-3, 1-4-2 CHA) with the game's first goal. Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas) picked up the puck during a scrum in front of Whitlinger's net and skated down the wing on a breakaway. She then slipped the puck to Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) at the top of the glove side faceoff circle, who fired in her seventh of the season for the 1-0 lead.
The pair of Yoxheimer and Hoenshell struck again early in the second period. At 1:14, Yoxheimer dumped the puck into the corner and won a battle for the biscuit amidst a group of Robert Morris players. She then broke away from the pack, stretched around the Colonials goalie and tucked in the 2-0 goal.
The Nittany Lions mirrored their tenacious early second period goal with a marker 1:13 into the third period. With 53 seconds left in the second, Colonial Maeve Garvey was issued a cross checking penalty and 43 seconds later, Yoxheimer was sent to the box for interference. As soon as Garvey's penalty expired 1:07 in, the Nittany Lions cleared the puck and Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.) gathered it from behind the Colonials' net. She then passed it up to Micayla Catanzariti (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), stationed in front of the net. The junior sent a one-timer in for her first of the year, the second shorthanded goal in Penn State history, and the 3-0 lead.
Hoenshell posted her third point of the night nearly six minutes later. She streaked down the boards as Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) drove down the slot. Hoenshell passed the puck through the crease to Petersen, who lifted it up just under the crossbar for her 10th of the season and the 4-0 count.
Yoxheimer added a second goal as the game clock wound down. With 3:15 left in regulation, the junior captain collected the puck from behind the Colonials' goal, skated to the front of the goal and tucked in the 5-0 tally.
Whitlinger's 42-save performance is her season high as her record improved to 5-4-0.
The teams rematch at 84 Lumber Arena tomorrow, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m.