Feb. 16, 2016
By Jack Milewski, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It was almost a storybook ending on home ice for the senior class that has led the Penn State women's hockey team since their inception as a program.
Despite a 23-15 shot advantage, Penn State fell to Lindenwood 1-0 in the final game of the series but did manage to put together a dominant 3-0 performance the night before to continue their strong play and send their seniors out with a hard fought split on home ice. For Penn State, the win on Friday marked their 10th of the season. Despite the loss Saturday, head coach Josh Brandwene was still pleased with the overall effort and praised his senior class for all they have done for Penn State as a whole.
"I am certainly very proud, and continue to be proud of this senior class for all of that they continue to accomplish and do for this program both on and off the ice," Brandwene said. "One of the things we've talked about in the locker room is the amazing job that they do representing Penn State in the work that they do."
That work that Penn State puts in, that is exemplified by the seniors and passed down through the ranks, is much more than just a work ethic on the ice. That grinding, hard-working mentality extends off the ice as well and Brandwene said he is equally, if not more proud for all that work.
"They work tremendously hard in the community, the classroom and I commend them for the tone that they have set in our program," Brandwene said.
The program has taken great strides through the careers of these seniors and Friday night was a great send off to a few of the main contributors who have been a part of the Penn State hockey family since day one.
Shannon Yoxheimer had two goals for the Nittany Lions. The senior is one of the team's leading scorers and has elevated her game down the stretch, propelling Penn State to a strong run in the last couple of weeks. Another senior who has had an equally influential impact is Celine Whitlinger and she was once again on her game Friday. Whitlinger stopped 23 shots for her sixth career shutout.
After the game Friday, Brandwene praised the hard working mentality that Penn State brought to the ice and that they regularly bring to every competition.
"It was just a really solid business-like effort from us tonight," Brandwene said. "I'm very proud of our performance on both sides of the puck."
Six seniors were honored on Friday night from the class of 12, while the other six were honored on Saturday afternoon. For Yoxheimer and Whitlinger, they honored the school they have called home for the past four years the best way they could, with tremendous efforts on Friday.
"It was pretty cool," Whitlinger said on her shutout. "It was special to be able to do that but it was also a total team effort."
Even with all that was going on this weekend with the senior festivities and the possible emotions that came in to play, the mentality for Penn State's seniors was still the same, take care of business.
"This weekend is a very special weekend with it being senior weekend," said Yoxheimer. "For us it's just all about going out and competing every time we play but this was definitely really special for us."
Penn State will have one more regular season series against Mercyhurst next weekend before the beginning of the CHA playoffs. The Nittany Lions and their seniors are vocal that they don't want the season to end anytime soon.
"We didn't want this to be our last home series," said Whitlinger. "I don't think we thought about that, we hope to be back here for the playoffs."
Game one against Mercyhurst is set for 6 p.m. on Friday and game two is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.