Oct. 25, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The UConn women's hockey team rallied past Penn State in the third period to hand the Nittany Lions a 4-3 loss Sunday afternoon at the Pegula Ice Arena. Three Nittany Lions scored in the game, including Hannah England (Simi Valley, Calif.), who netted her first career goal as a Nittany Lion.
Neither team was able to find the back of net during the opening period of play, as Penn State (3-5-0) outshot UConn (3-1-2) 9-7. With the first period coming to a close, Micayla Catanzariti (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) was called for hooking and UConn's Catlin Hewes was called for embellishment resulting in each team playing with a man down to open the second period.
With both teams playing with four skaters early in the second period, Jordin Pardoski (Rochester Hills, Mich.) lit the lamp with a little more than a minute into the second period. Victoria Samuelsson (Leksand, Sweden) was tied up along the boards with the puck and Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) came along and passed the puck to Pardoski who was open near the blue line. With space to work with, Pardoski fired home a shot for the 1-0 lead with 18:59 remaining in the period.
The scored remained in favor of the Nittany Lions until Jordy Zacharias tied the game at one with 4:12 left in the second frame. Though, the 1-1 tie did not last long.
From along the left side of the ice, Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) passed the puck to Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) who was cutting across the ice. Petersen, near the crease, redirected the puck into the back of the net for the first goal of her junior season with 2:55 left in the second period.
Heading to the final period, the Nittany Lions held on to a 2-1 lead and they would strike again early in the third period. After a pair of close-range shots from Yoxheimer, England corralled the loose puck and found the back of the net for her first goal as a Nittany Lion with 18:37 left in the third period.
Down the homestretch of the third period, UConn netted three goals to secure the 4-3 win.
In the game, Penn State outshot UConn, 34-32, but UConn scored three goals on 13 shots in the final period.
In net, Hannah Ehresmann (Minnetonka, Minn.) made 28 saves, while Annie Belanger tallied 31 saves for UConn.
Penn State opens conference play Friday, Oct. 30, in Wentzville, Mo., against Lindenwood.