Feb. 20, 2015
4 Robert Morris (10-17-5, 7-8-4 CHA) |
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) University Park, Pa. • Pegula Ice Arena • Attendance: 459 | 1 Penn State (15-14-4, 9-8-2 CHA) |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Feb. 20, 2015 - The Penn State women's hockey team outshot Robert Morris by 12 but was unable to crack the Colonials' strong presence along the boards, falling 4-1 in College Hockey America (CHA) play.
Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) led all skaters with seven shots and assisted on Penn State's lone goal. Bella Sutton (Shoreview, Minn.) netted the Nittany Lions' tally, a slap shot from the point on the power play.
Penn State (15-14-4, 9-8-2 CHA) and Syracuse remain tied for second in the CHA standings with 20 points, and Robert Morris (10-17-5, 7-8-4 CHA) stays fourth but increases its point total to 18. The Orange host RIT at 7 p.m.
The Colonials netted the game's first goal 10:48 into the game. Katelyn Scott sent the puck careening along the boards to Rebecca Vint at the Robert Morris blue line. Vint took off on a breakaway, deked a defender and knocked it five-hole for the 1-0 lead.
Robert Morris picked up the eventual game-winner nearly four minutes later on the power play. Mackenzie Johnston skated the puck into Penn State's zone and moved around behind the net. She passed the puck up to Megan Eady who sent a slap shot at the net, and Rikki Meilleur tipped in the 2-0 score.
With just 57 seconds remaining in the second period, Vint's second of the game put the Colonials up, 3-0. Mackenzie Johnston freed the puck from along the boards for Vint to tuck it low gloveside.
Jessica Gazzola added a fourth marker 3:55 into the third period. At the top of the farside faceoff circle, Johnston backhanded the puck to Gazzola, who skated in alone on Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) and lifted the puck past the junior to give the Colonials a 4-0 lead.
But the Nittany Lions spoiled Jessica Dodds' bid for a shutout in the final fourth of the third frame. Anissa Gamble was called for high sticking at 15:06 and 1:13 later on the power play, Sutton sent a pass to Bowman at the nearside boards, moving it to the opposite faceoff circle. Bowman then returned the puck to Sutton, who ripped it from the high slot and in for the final 4-1 score.
Both Penn State and Robert Morris went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Blue and White dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 36-18. Bowman was near-perfect, controlling 16 of 19 puck drops. Overall, the Nittany Lions outshot the Colonials, 34-22, led by Bowman's seven and Caitlin Reilly (Chanhassen, Minn.) and Shannon Yoxheimer's (Jackson, Mich.) five. Whitlinger turned away 18 shots, as her record fell to 11-9-3.
The Nittany Lions close out the regular season tomorrow, Feb. 21, at noon. Senior student manager Sammy Sarsfield and graduating junior Kendra Rasmussen (Sartell, Minn.) will be honored following the conclusion of the contest.