March 4, 2016
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BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Penn State women's hockey team rallied from a two-goal deficit with 2:31 left in the second period, but fell in a three-overtime contest against Syracuse, 3-2, in the College Hockey America (CHA) semifinal round Friday inside the Harbor Center.
"I am extremely proud of this team, it is always hard to lose, but this was an epic hockey game to be a part of," head coach Josh Brandwene said. "Both teams battled so hard, almost six complete periods of hockey. Everybody left it all out there, heart and soul, every ounce of energy from both teams. For us to come back and play so well on this stage, just nothing but pride from me."
Penn State closes out its fourth year as a division I program with a record of 12-19-6, while Syracuse advances to the CHA Tournament Championship game with a record of 19-13-3. No. 2 Syracuse plays No. 1 Mercyhurst for the conference title Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. inside the Harbor Center.
In her final start between the pipes for the Nittany Lions, senior netminder Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) recorded the No. 2 save performance in program history. Whitlinger set a career-best 61 saves in the outing, which is three saves shy of tying the program record set by Nicole Paniccia against Mercyhurst on Dec. 1, 2012.
In the contest, Whitlinger made a game-high 15 saves during the first overtime period and recorded another 14 saves during the third extra frame.
Syracuse scored twice in the second stanza before the Nittany Lions tallied a pair of goals within a 2:08 span to tie the game at two early in the third period.
Syracuse posted its first goal of the game at 3:19 into the second frame on Megan Quinn's seventh goal of the season and with 2:31 remaining in the second period, the Orange added to their lead on Allie Munroe's third goal of the 2015-16 season.
Penn State cashed in on its second power play attempt of the third period on Bella Sutton's (Shoreview, Minn.) fourth goal of the season at 3:26. Sutton's strike was also the third power play goal of her sophomore campaign.
On the power play, the Nittany Lions went to work looking to cut into the two-goal deficit. Amy Petersen (Minnetonka, Minn.) played the puck to Sutton near the SU blueline, who then moved up the ice before firing a shot on goal from near the left face-off dot. Sutton's shot hit the right post and rebounded into the back of the net for the Nittany Lion tally.
A little more than two minutes later, Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) recorded her team-leading 17th goal of the season to tie the game at two at 5:34 into the third period. Bowman's goal Friday is the Penn State single-season record and is also the 43rd goal of her Nittany Lion career, which is also a program-best.
Both teams had numerous chances to finish the game during the final minutes of the third period and throughout the three extra sessions, but both goalies and respective defenses stepped up each time to keep the game deadlocked at two.
Penn State and Syracuse battled back-and-forth for almost an extra 60 minutes before Stephanie Grossi netted the game-winner with 3:50 left on the clock in the third overtime period.
Both teams netted power play goals as Penn State went 1-for-4 and Syracuse went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
NOTES: Friday's contest was the longest game in CHA Tournament history...The previous record was set by Lindenwood and Robert Morris in 2013 (108:04)...Amy Petersen netted a pair of assists to bring her season total to 21, which is career- and program-best...Petersen also netted her 29th point of the season, which is a career-best...Bella Sutton has eight career power play goals, which ranks third all-time at Penn State...Members of Penn State's inaugural freshman class played in their final game...Emily Laurenzi played in all 145 games during her four years as a Nittany Lion...During her senior season, Celine Whitlinger set a program record in shutouts (four), goals against average (1.51) and save percentage (.947)...Amy Petersen closed out her junior season with 18 points in 16 games, including seven points over the past five games...Petersen posted five games with two assists this season...Laura Bowman closed out the season with goals in the last four games...Bowman also added a pair of assists during the last four games of the 2015-16 season...Penn State played in its first double overtime and triple overtime game...Amy Petersen tallied assists on 12 Laura Bowman goals in 2015-16.