Jan. 30, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) scored twice en route to a 2-0 victory over the RIT Tigers Saturday afternoon inside the Pegula Ice Arena. The win Saturday marks Penn State's second series sweep this season.
This weekend's College Hockey America (CHA) series sweep was the third in program history and the first time the Nittany Lions did not allow a goal in a CHA series.
With the sweep, the Nittany Lions improve to 9-14-5 overall and 5-4-5 in CHA action. RIT falls to 6-21-1 overall and 2-11-1 in conference play.
"Certainly really pleased with the overall effort and poise and hard work from our hockey team this weekend," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "What I'm most pleased about is that we got better today than we were yesterday in a lot of different areas. We were even more consistent than yesterday in puck decisions. As good as it was yesterday, it was even better today. Fabulous job on both sides of special teams. A big penalty kill and a big power play goal and really pleased with the consistent effort through the entire hockey game today."
The Nittany Lions struck first in the second period with 5:37 left on the clock on Yoxheimer's 10th career power play goal.
On the Nittany Lions' lone power play of the game, the Nittany Lions moved the puck around in their own zone until Remi Martin (Littleton, Colo.) fired a shot on goal from near the blue line. With the puck headed towards goal, Yoxheimer, in front of the net, redirected the puck past RIT goalie Jenna de Jonge for her fourth goal of the season. Along with Martin, Hannah England (Simi Valley, Calif.) tallied an assist on the Yoxheimer strike.
Penn State added to its lead with 4:52 left in regulation on Yoxheimer's second goal of the game and fifth of the season. On the goal, Yoxheimer corralled the loose puck in front of the net and buried the puck for the 2-0 lead. Freshmen Victoria Samuelsson (Leksand, Sweden) and England were credited with assists on the second Yoxheimer goal.
Looking to get on the board late in the game, RIT pulled de Jonge for the extra attacker with 2:25 left in regulation, but the Tigers were unable to get past the Nittany Lion defense. Down the final stretch of play, Penn State held the RIT offense in check for its fourth shutout of the 2015-16 season.
Penn State outshot RIT on the afternoon by a margin of 34-15. The Nittany Lion defense held RIT to five shot attempts in the first period, three in the second frame and seven in the third period.
In net, sophomore Hannah Ehresmann (Minnetonka, Minn.) made 15 saves to protect the Nittany Lion clean sheet, while de Jonge stopped 32 shots for RIT.
Since beginning its eight-game homestand last weekend, Penn State has posted a record of 3-0-1. The Nittany Lions host Syracuse next weekend and close out the 2015-16 home slate with Lindenwood Feb. 12-13.
Next week's series against Syracuse is set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Saturday's game is live on the Big Ten Network.