Nov. 14, 2015
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PITTSBURGH -- The Penn State women's hockey team used an early goal in each period to capture a 5-1 victory over College Hockey America opponent Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at the 84 Lumber Arena. Micayla Catanzariti (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) recorded Penn State's third-ever hat trick in the victory for the Blue and White.
The Nittany Lions (4-7-3, 1-2-3) only used 89 seconds of clock before they took a 1-0 lead over the Robert Morris Colonials (7-5-2, 3-2-1).
Early in the first period, RMU goalie Jessica Dodds was out of position behind the RMU net leading to Catanzariti picking up the loose puck, wrapping around the goal and firing home her second goal of the season.
RMU outshot PSU, 10-5, in the opening frame, but the Nittany Lions held a 1-0 goal advantage.
Hannah Hoenshell (Plano, Texas) followed suit early in the second period as she scored her third goal of the 2015-16 campaign less than four minutes into the second frame. Hoenshell fired a shot past Dodds from near the left faceoff dot for the 2-0 lead at the 3:46 mark in the second period.
For the second time in her career, Catanzariti netted two goals in a game. The first time she tallied two goals in a game was on Oct. 6, 2012 against Vermont -- the Nittany Lions' inaugural game.
Catanzariti put the Nittany Lions up 3-0 at the 13:50 mark in the second period. Catanzariti picked off a RMU pass near the team benches, skated towards the RMU net and beat Dodds for her second goal of the game.
With a little over two minutes left in the second period, Robert Morris brought the game within two on a power play goal from Mikaela Lowater.
Heading into the second intermission, Penn State held a 3-1 advantage on the scoreboard, while Robert Morris outshot Penn State, 23-16.
The Nittany Lions tallied their fourth goal of the game within the first three minutes of the third period.
Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.), on the right side of the goal on the goal line, fired a shot at Dodds' stick and the puck redirected into the back of the net. Bowman netted her sixth goal of the season for the 4-1 lead. Last season, Bowman set the program record with 16 goals in a single-season.
Under five minutes to play in the third period, Catanzariti recorded her first-ever hat trick as a Nittany Lion and Penn State's third-ever hat trick in program history. With the RMU net empty, Catanzariti buried the puck home for 5-1 lead with 4:54 to play in the third period.
On the power play, PSU went 0-for-4, while RMU went 1-for-6.
Despite only 22 shot attempts, Penn State scored five times compared to one goal by RMU on 37 shot attempts.
After tallying 29 saves last night, Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 36 saves on the day for the Blue and White.
The Nittany Lions continue their 12-game road trip Monday, Nov. 23, in Canton, N.Y., against St. Lawrence. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Appleton Arena.