June 30, 2016
2016-17 Schedule
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team has released its schedule for the 2016-17 season, head coach Josh Brandwene announced. The 2016-17 campaign features 34 regular season games, including 16 contests at the Pegula Ice Arena.
"We have a terrific schedule," Brandwene said. "Our College Hockey America (CHA) circuit is always tough and entertaining and we are excited to have such great challenges on our very diverse non-conference slate. I'm counting the days until we get started and looking forward to seeing this team accomplish big things next year."
The Nittany Lions begin the 2016-17 slate with an exhibition contest against Guelph inside the Pegula Ice Arena on Sept. 24.
The fifth varsity regular season gets underway for the Blue and White with a weekend series against Clarkson in Potsdam, N.Y., Sept. 30-Oct. 1. The 2016-17 season opener versus Clarkson marks the first meeting between the two programs. Clarkson ended the 2015-16 season with a 3-2 overtime loss in the Frozen Four against Boston College.
The Nittany Lions continue their season-opening road trip against Union in Schenectady, N.Y., Oct. 7-8. Last season, Penn State topped Union, 3-0 and 3-0, in their series inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State returns home to the Pegula Ice Arena for its home opener against the Boston University Terriers, Oct. 14-15. Last season, the Nittany Lions captured their third win over a ranked opponent in program history with a 5-3 victory over No. 7/8 BU in Boston on Oct. 9, 2015. BU responded the next day with a 3-1 win to split the first-ever series.
Following the series against BU, the Nittany Lions hit the road for a three-series road trip, which includes games against UConn (Oct. 21-22), RIT (Oct. 27-28) and Mercyhurst (Nov. 4-5).
In the first-ever series against the UConn Huskies last season, the Nittany Lions dropped pair of one-goal games (1-0 & 4-3) inside the Pegula Ice Arena. This season, the Nittany Lions and Huskies meet in Storrs, Conn.
The 2016-17 CHA season begins for the Nittany Lions at RIT and continues at Mercyhurst. The Nittany Lions eliminated the RIT Tigers in the CHA First Round (2-0 & 3-2) to advance to the 2016 CHA Semifinals.
After their series in Rochester, N.Y., the Nittany Lions head to the defending CHA regular season and tournament champion Mercyhurst Lakers.
The Nittany Lions then return to Pegula for a three-series homestretch against Lindenwood (Nov. 11-12), St. Lawrence (Nov. 21-22) and Robert Morris (Dec. 2-3).
Penn State closes out the 2016 calendar year at Quinnipiac (Dec. 30) and at Princeton (Dec. 31).
The Nittany Lions return to the ice on Jan. 6-7 as they welcome the Ohio State Buckeyes to the Pegula Ice Arena. The two teams split their series last year in Columbus, Ohio, with the Nittany Lions closing out the series with their first win in program history over OSU (3-2).
Penn State returns to CHA action in 2017 at Syracuse (Jan. 13-14). Last year in the CHA semifinal round, the Orange bested the Nittany Lions in a 3-2 three-overtime contest, which is the eighth-longest game in NCAA women's hockey history.
The Blue and White close out the 2016-17 regular season with Mercyhurst at home (Jan. 27-28), at Lindenwood (Feb. 10-11), at Robert Morris (Feb. 17-18) and at home against Syracuse (Feb. 24-25).
The 2017 CHA playoffs return to the HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, N.Y., for the second-straight season. For the first time in CHA history, all first round, semifinal and tournament championship games take place at the HARBORCENTER. The 2017 CHA First Round is a single elimination round compared to a best-of-three series in the past.
The CHA First Round (3rd vs. 6th, 4th vs. 5th) takes place Thursday, March 2, with the two top regular season seeds receiving a bye. The one seed plays the lowest remaining seed in the CHA semifinal round and the second seed plays the second-lowest seed Friday, March 3. The 2017 CHA Tournament Championship, which is an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, takes place Saturday, March 4.
The Penn State women's hockey team returns 13 members from the 2015-16 season and welcomes eight new student-athletes to the program for the 2016-17 season.