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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team dropped a 2-1 College Hockey America (CHA) contest against Syracuse Saturday afternoon inside the Pegula Ice Arena. For the second-straight game, Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) netted a goal for the Blue and White bringing her team lead to 12.
The Nittany Lions fall to 9-16-5 (5-6-5) on the season, while Syracuse improves to 14-13-3 (10-4-2) with four games left in the 2015-16 regular season.
Syracuse got on the board just 56 seconds into the contest as Emily Costales netted her ninth goal of the season for the Orange. Syracuse held the 1-0 tally until Bowman tied up the game with 9:47 left in the second period.
For the eighth time this season Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) tallied an assist on a Bowman goal. Petersen's assist Saturday is the 16th of the season and her 10th point over the past nine games. Bowman's goal Saturday was also the 10th power play goal of her Nittany Lions career.
The play began with an outlet pass from defender Remi Martin (Littleton, Colo.) into the neutral zone to Petersen. With the puck, Petersen brought the puck up ice and found a wide-open Bowman near the Syracuse net and Bowman tallied the game-tying strike.
Less than three minutes later, Syracuse took back the lead on Megan Quinn's sixth goal of the season. Quinn notched a power play goal with 7:20 left in the second period.
Penn State recorded a shot margin of 10-4 during the final frame of regulation, but the Nittany Lions were unable to secure the game-tying goal. The Nittany Lions pulled goalie Hannah Ehresmann (Minnetonka, Minn.) for the extra skater, but the Syracuse defense held strong during the final 1:17 left in play.
In net, Ehresmann recorded 21 saves, while Jenn Gilligan tallied 19 saves for Syracuse.
Similar to yesterday, both teams tallied a power play goal. Penn State went 1-for-4, while Syracuse went 1-for-3.
The Nittany Lions host Lindenwood in the 2015-16 home finale next weekend inside the Pegula Ice Arena. Penn State will honor its 12 seniors from the program's original freshman class next weekend. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Friday night and 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.