Dec. 10, 2015
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team closes out the 2015 calendar year with a non-conference road trip to No. 10 Princeton, Dec. 11-12, at Hobey Baker Rink. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Nittany Lions will return to the ice on Jan. 2 at Ohio State.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with the Nittany Lions at Princeton with live stats via GoPSUsports.com and for a fee fans can watch the games live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
LAST SERIES RECAP
The Nittany Lions are coming off a 3-1 loss and a 1-1 tie against CHA opponent Syracuse last weekend.
On the weekend, Laura Bowman tallied a goal and one assist. Over the past six games, she has posted at least one point in five of the contests.
In net, Celine Whitlinger made 60 saves for the Nittany Lions during the weekend, including a 40-save performance in the series finale.
In the opener, Amy Petersen netted her third goal of the season in the second period to tie the game at one, but Syracuse tallied a pair of goals in the third period to secure the 3-1 win.
The series came to a close with both teams tallying one goal each. In the game, Syracuse scored in the first period and then Bowman recorded her eighth goal of the season in the second period. Kelly Seward and Bella Sutton were credited with assists on the Bowman goal. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in third period or overtime securing the 1-1 draw.
In Saturday's game, Whitlinger tallied a 40-save effort for the second time this season. Whitlinger has posted 35 saves or more in a single game six times this year.
The Nittany Lions held the Orange to a 0-for-6 performance on the power play over the weekend.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS (9-4-1, 5-4-1)
The Tigers enter the series ranked 10th in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine College Hockey Poll.
Penn State and No. 10 Princeton have played two common opponents this season. Princeton swept Mercyhurst to open the year and fell to St. Lawrence, 3-2, a few weeks ago.
Princeton will be the third ranked team the Nittany Lions have played this season (1-3-0).
After losing three-straight games, the Tigers have rattled off four-straight victories heading into this weekend.
Last weekend, the Tigers topped No. 7 Harvard, 2-1, in overtime and defeated Dartmouth 4-1.
Offensively, the Tigers are led by Karlie Lund (7g, 9a), Kelsey Koelzer (6g, 4a) and Hilary Lloyd (3g, 7a). Koelzer currently ranks tied for 10th in the nation with three power play goals.
On the year, 17 Tigers have recorded at least one point, which includes 14 Tigers finding the back of the net.
Kimberly Newell has played the majority of time in net for the Tigers. On the year, she has played 663:23 minutes, made 301 saves, allowed 18 goals, tallied a goals against average of 1.63 and owns a save percentage of .944.
The Princeton penalty kill ranks second in the nation with a mark of 95.1 percent. Opponents have scored three times on 61 tries this season. Only Wisconsin has a better penalty kill (98 percent).
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Victoria Samuelsson is tied for 10th in the CHA in freshman scoring with seven points (1g, 6a).
Also, Hannah England is tied for 17th in CHA freshman scoring with three points (1g, 2a).
NOT SO FAST, MY FRIEND
The Nittany Lions have only allowed nine goals in the first twenty minutes of play, which ranks first in the CHA.
PLAYING SMART
Penn State is currently averaging 6.4 penalty minutes per game, which ranks second in the CHA (Syracuse - 6.1).
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
Hannah Hoenshell is tied for second in the CHA in game-winning goals (three). In her career, Hoenshell has scored six game-winning goals, which ranks second all-time. Shannon Yoxheimer holds the Penn State record (nine).
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE
Penn State has only allowed 40 goals on the year, which is the best mark in the CHA this season. Robert Morris and Syracuse are tied for second with 45 goals.
BACK-TO-BACK
For the first time in program history, the Nittany Lions tallied back-to-back shutouts against a Division I team. Penn State swept Union by a score of 3-0 in each game.
NCAA RANKINGS
Heading into this weekend, Celine Whitlinger is sixth in save percentage (.947) and she ranks eighth in goals against average (1.58).
SUTTON EXCELS ON THE POWER PLAY
Bella Sutton tallied her sixth career power play goal against No. 7/8 Boston University. The sophomore is tied for third all-time at Penn State in power play goals.
ALL-TIME SAVES RECORD
Celine Whitlinger captured the all-time Penn State women's hockey saves record Friday, Oct. 30, at Lindenwood. Nicole Paniccia held the previous Nittany Lion all-time saves record with 1,801.
NITTANY LION ATTACK
The Nittany Lions have tallied at least five goals in a game twice this season. The two five-goal outings are the 10th and 11th in program history.
100 GAMES
Two Nittany Lions have eclipsed the century mark in games played this season.
In the season-opener against Minnesota, Jill Holdcroft became the seventh Nittany Lion to skate in 100 career games and Micayla Catanzariti became the eighth Nittany Lion to post 100 games played on Oct. 31.
Laura Bowman, Sarah Nielsen and Amy Petersen are on track to become the next Nittany Lions to skate in 100 games. The trio of Minnesotans have played in 91 games each.
STARTING OUT FAST
On Oct. 9, 2015, against No. 7/8 BU, Laura Bowman scored 43 seconds into the game, which is three seconds shy of tying the program record for the fastest goal to start a game. The record, held by Bowman, was set on Oct. 26, 2013, against New Hampshire.
CHA HONORS
Celine Whitlinger has been named the CHA Goaltender of the Week twice in the 2015-16 season. Whitlinger tallied 41 saves against the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers for the first plaudit and made 65 saves in a weekend series against Robert Morris for the second award.
For her performance against the Union Dutchwomen, Victoria Samuelsson was named the CHA Rookie of the Week. In the series, Samuelsson dished out two assists Saturday night and added one more in Sunday's game.
For the third time as a Nittany Lion, Whitlinger was named the CHA Goaltender for the Month for October. In the month of October, Whitlinger made 158 saves, tallied a goals against average of 1.66 and posted a save percentage of .940.
NEXT TIME OUT
Following winter break, the Nittany Lions return to the ice against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 2-3.