Jan. 22, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team opened its eight-game homestand with a 3-2 overtime win over Robert Morris Friday night at the Pegula Ice Arena. Bella Sutton (Shoreview, Minn.) scored in her second-straight game to clinch the victory for the Blue and White.
"Well, nothing like a wildly entertaining hockey game for our arrival back to Pegula Ice Arena after a long road trip," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "I'm really proud of the effort throughout the course of the hockey game today. I certainly want to point to the resilience and the response from our team today and that's a total credit to them for how they finished the third period strong. That overtime was something else and that's something I'm really proud of."
Hannah Bramm (Tampa, Fla.) recorded a pair of goals for the Nittany Lions (7-14-4, 3-4-4 CHA), while Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) tallied two assists for Penn State in the contest. Petersen has 12 assists on the season with three games of at least two assists.
The Nittany Lions started the scoring in the first period after Petersen picked up the loose puck in the Nittany Lion end and played the puck off the glass to Bramm in the neutral zone. Bramm then beat an RMU (12-9-4, 4-4-3 CHA) defender and goalie Jessica Dodds for her first goal of the game and the sixth goal of her senior season with 2:54 left in the opening frame. The Nittany Lions held a 12-11 shot advantage after the first 20 minutes of play.
Penn State doubled its lead in the second period after Remi Martin (Littleton, Colo.) fired a shot on from the blue line on goal. Before the puck was able to get to Dodds, Petersen redirected the shot on goal and Bramm was there to finish the play for her second goal of the game at 13:11 mark. Bramm also netted a pair of goals earlier this season against Princeton (Dec. 12). During the second period of play, RMU outshot Penn State, 10-7, with both teams going 0-for-1 on the power play.
The Colonials responded in the third period with two goals in a two-minute span to tie the game at two. With 7:06 left on the clock in regulation, Mikela Lowater netted her 10th goal of the season to make it a one-goal game and with 5:20 left in regulation, Brittany Howard scored her 12th goal of the 2015-16 season to tie the game at two. RMU recorded a 14-5 shot advantage in the third period of play.
Neither team was able to find the back of net down the final stretch of the third period sending the game to the extra frame.
The Nittany Lions dominated the overtime period, as they fired eight shots in the extra frame, but RMU was there to block five attempts. RMU did not record one shot attempt during the overtime frame.
Sutton's third goal of the season came with 1:19 left in the extra session. From behind the goal line, Sutton went to play the puck towards the front of the net and an RMU defender's stick deflected the puck past Dodds for the 3-2 tally. Kelly Seward (Williamsville, N.Y.) and Victoria Samuelsson (Leksand, Sweden) recorded assists on the Sutton game-winner.
Both teams combined for three penalties for six minutes. Penn State went 0-for-1 on the power play, while Robert Morris tallied a mark of 0-for-2. RMU outshot Penn State, 35-26, in the game.
Senior Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 33 saves in 63:41 of action, including a game-high 12 saves in the third period. For Robert Morris, Dodds made 23 saves.
The series comes to a close tomorrow inside the Pegula Ice Arena with puck drop set for 2:02 p.m.