Oct. 1, 2015
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Pegula Ice Arena | University Park, Pa. |
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Box Score
Coach Brandwene Press Conference
GOALS
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | | MINN | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | PSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SHOTS
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | | MINN | 8 | 19 | 16 | 43 | | PSU | 12 | 3 | 5 | 20 |
PP
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | | MINN | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | | PSU | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 |
| GOAL SUMMARY | Team
| Scoring | P | Time | | MINN | McMillen (PP)
Pannek, Piazza
| 2 | 4:16 | | MINN | Potomak (EN) | 3 | 19:04 | | |
| GOALTENDERS | Team
| Goaltenders | Mins. | GA | SV | MINN
| Leveille | 60:00 | 0 | 20 | PSU
| Whitlinger | 58:50 | 1 | 41 |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State women's hockey team opened the 2015-16 regular season with a 2-0 loss to the defending NCAA champion Minnesota Golden Gophers Thursday night at the Pegula Ice Arena.
"One of the things that we've been stressing as a program, since we started preseason, is growth mind-set," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "Certainly when you work that hard and you don't get the result that you are looking for when you are a family of competitors its tough. But the growth that I have witnessed in the last couple of weeks and witnessed over the last sixty minutes is something tremendous for this hockey team to build on going forward. The challenge ahead will be to remain unsatisfied with the result, but focused primarily on the growth a process in front of us. We are pretty much looking forward to having a second opportunity to play these guys again tomorrow."
Senior goalie Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) battled throughout the game as she kept the Gopher offense in check. The two-time CHA Goaltender of the Month only allowed one goal on 42 shot attempts. Her 41 saves on the night is the highest total since she made 40 in a 2-2 tie against Syracuse on Jan. 30, 2015.
The opening frame featured the Nittany Lions leading the offensive attack, as they outshot the Golden Gophers, 12-8. After tallying a goal last week in an exhibition contest against Guelph, freshman Victoria Samuelsson (Leksand, Sweden) posted three shots in the first 20 minutes of action.
In the second period of play, the Golden Gophers put pressure on the Nittany Lions. During the middle stanza, Minnesota outshot Penn State, 19-3.
After a Nittany Lion penalty early in the second period, the Gopher power play went to work. Forty-four seconds later, Minnesota's Milica McMillen scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Kelly Pannek and Cara Piazza.
Minnesota held on to the 1-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation. The Nittany Lion power play made their regular season debut 53 seconds into the third period. After Sarah Potomak was called for tripping, the Nittany Lions had an extra attacker for the next two minutes. A stingy Minnesota defense kept the Nittany Lions off the board during the power play.
With the final minutes of regulation ticking down, the Nittany Lions were still in search of the game-tying goal.
With a little over a minute left to play Whitlinger made her way towards the bench for the extra Nittany Lion attacker, but Minnesota sealed the 2-0 victory with an empty net goal from Potomak with 56 seconds to play in regulation.
The Nittany Lions and the top-ranked Golden Gophers return to the ice Friday, Oct. 2. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., at the Pegula Ice Arena.
Friday night's game will be a Family 4-Pack game. For $30, fans can purchase four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks. Also, the first 100 students Friday night will receive a free t-shirt.
