1 New Hampshire (7-17-1, 4-9-0 Hockey East) |
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) Durham, N.H. • Whittemore Center • Attendance: 238 | 3 Penn State (13-10-3, 7-4-1 CHA) |
Durham, N.H.; Jan. 24, 2015 - Penn State's line of Sarah Nielsen (Edina, Minn.), Hannah Bramm (Tampa, Fla.) and Caitlin Reilly (Chanhassen, Minn.) led the Nittany Lions (13-10-3) to a 3-1 non-conference win over New Hampshire on Saturday, each recording two points en route to the team's 13th win of the year.
The line struck first 8:44 into the weekend finale. Bramm picked up the puck at the Wildcats' blueline and fed it behind her to Reilly. She weaved to the front of the net and backhanded it into Vilma Vaattovaara's pad. Nielsen cashed in on the rebound when she tapped it past for the 1-0 lead.
But New Hampshire (7-17-1) would get the equalizer a little less than halfway through the second. Amy Boucher collected the puck in front of her team's bench and dropped it back to Hannah Armstrong, whose quick shot knotted the score at 1-1.
Seven-and-a-half minutes later, the Nittany Lions would regain its advantage. Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) threw the puck on net from the low slot and the rebound bounced out to Emily Laurenzi (Towsend, Del.), stationed just inside the endline. The junior sent a sharp-angled shot five-hole that trickled in for her first goal of the season and the game-winning 2-1 score.
Bringing the game full circle, the trio of Nielsen, Bramm and Reilly got the game's final count with three minutes left in regulation. Nielsen gained the zone and chipped in the puck, which Reilly picked up in the slot. She skated behind the cage to the farside faceoff circle, threw it on net and Bramm poked in the 3-1 score.
Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) picked up her third win in as many starts, fanning 32 shots to improve her record to 9-5-0.
Yoxheimer led all skaters with eight shots, helping Penn State to 19 total shots.
The Nittany Lions return to Pegula Ice Arena and College Hockey America (CHA) action on Fri., Jan. 30. Penn State hosts Syracuse at 7 p.m. in the series opener and 2 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 31.