Jan. 26, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - By Tyler Feldman, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Head coach Josh Brandwene often refers to his team as "road warriors." This moniker was proven right this weekend as Penn State (13-10-3, 7-4-1 CHA) split with New Hampshire (7-17-1, 4-9-0 Hockey East) in Durham, N.H. After dropping Friday's contest, 2-0, the Nittany Lions rebounded on Saturday to top the Wildcats, 3-1.
"Our process was really good all weekend long," said Brandwene. "I loved the effort on Friday. We generated a ton of scoring chances, and we stuck to the game plan on Saturday. We kept our feet moving, and in well-deserved fashion got rewarded for it."
Offensive balance was on full display, especially on Saturday, as the line of Sarah Nielsen, Hannah Bramm and Caitlin Reilly each tallied two points to lead the Nittany Lions.
"We've been getting great effort at both ends of the ice from all of our forward lines, and it was great to see Hannah, Caitlin and Sarah get rewarded for their efforts this weekend," said Brandwene. "I'm really proud of them."
After Friday night's loss, Penn State returned to the rink hungry on Saturday, scoring three goals en route to victory.
"I'm really pleased with how all three of our goals turned out," said Brandwene.
Nielsen scored at the 8:44 mark in the first period to push the Blue and White out to an early one-goal lead. Reilly and Bramm each assisted on the score.
"On the first goal, Caitlin Reilly moving her feet and just putting on all sorts of pressure with her foot speed and great finish from Sarah Nielsen," said Brandwene.
After Hannah Armstrong scored for New Hampshire to tie the game at one 10:48 into the second frame, Emily Laurenzi netted her first goal of the season on an apple from Shannon Yoxheimer with 2:44 left in the second to give Penn State the lead, 2-1.
"I loved seeing Em Laurenzi shoot the puck on the second goal," said Brandwene.
Then, with three minutes into the final period, Reilly and Nielsen's passing set up Bramm's score, giving the Nittany Lions a two-goal advantage.
"Just a gritty effort in front by Hannah Bramm on the third one," said Brandwene. "I was really pleased. It was a total team effort this weekend."
Play between the pipes this weekend was solid. While Hannah Ehresmann made 32 stops in Friday's loss, Celine Whitlinger earned her ninth win of the season by kicking away 32 shots on Saturday.
"I'm so proud of both Hannah and Celine with their preparation and their poise over the course of the entire weekend," said Brandwene. "They did a great job."
One area that stood out for Penn State against New Hampshire was the solid blue-line play by the defensive unit.
"It was another great effort from our D-core," said Brandwene. "Just fabulous gap control. Really poised in so many situations. They did a fabulous job, as well."
This weekend presented Penn State's final non-conference games of the season. With its final eight games all against conference opponents, the Nittany Lions intend to finish the regular season and enter the postseason strong.
"Keep working hard," said Brandwene. "Keep growing. One practice at a time. One shift at a time".