Feb. 5, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Syracuse women's hockey team scored with 6.9 seconds left in overtime to secure a 3-2 victory Friday night inside the Pegula Ice Arena. Junior Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) tallied two assists in a game for the fourth time this season Friday night.
After Penn State (9-15-5, 5-5-5) took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, Syracuse (13-13-3, 9-4-2) responded with a goal in the third period and the game-winner in the extra frame.
Syracuse took a 1-0 lead during the first period of play, as Melissa Piacentini netted her eighth goal of the season with 3:52 left in the opening frame.
Penn State battled back in the second period with a pair of goals to take the 2-1 lead with 8:52 left on the scoreboard.
Penn State opened up the scoring in the second period on Kelsey Crow's (Minnetonka, Minn.) second goal of her Nittany Lion career. Crow lit the lamp on a Nittany Lion power play 8:25 into the second period.
On the power play, the Nittany Lions moved the puck around the Syracuse zone until Crow blasted a shot from point-blank range for the game-tying goal and three minutes later, the Nittany Lions took a 2-1 lead on Laura Bowman's (Minnetonka, Minn.) 11th goal of the season.
The go-ahead goal took place after Petersen stole the puck from a Syracuse skater in the Nittany Lion zone. With the puck, Petersen passed the puck to Bowman in the neutral zone, who briefly lost control of the puck in the Syracuse zone, but Petersen was there to corral the loose puck.
In front of the Syracuse net, Petersen played the puck to Bowman and she buried home the go-ahead goal. Bowman's goal Friday marked the seventh time Petersen recorded an assist on a Bowman goal this season. Petersen's assist on the Bowman goal was the 15th assist of her junior season, which ties a career-high (2014).
Late in the third period, Syracuse tied the game at two on Morgan Blank's second goal of the season with 2:42 left in regulation. Both teams continued to battle down the final stretch of the third period and into the overtime period.
Jessica Sibley netted home the winner in overtime with 6.9 seconds on the clock off a Syracuse rebound in front of the Nittany Lion crease.
Both teams converted on the power play, as Penn State went 1-for-2 and Syracuse went 1-for-5.
Penn State's Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) tallied 38 saves for the Blue and White Friday night, while Jenn Gilligan made 14 saves for the Orange. Whitlinger's 38 saves Friday is fifth time this season she has made 38 or more saves in a game and a game-high since she made 40 saves against Syracuse in a 1-1 tie on Dec. 5, 2015.
Both teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network. Tomorrow's game is the annual Skate for the Cure game. Fans that wear pink receive free admission and following tomorrow's contest the Nittany Lions will host their final post-game skate of the season.