Sept. 26, 2016
By Tom Shively, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - Suiting up for the first time this season, the Nittany Lions looked clean and prepared in their 4-1 exhibition victory over the Guelph Gryphons. This is the second straight year Penn State matched up with Guelph in an exhibition setting.
Coming off some strong early practice sessions, head coach Josh Brandwene was pleased with the effort from the Nittany Lions in this game.
"When you get all of those players those kind of reps and those kind of minutes during a hockey game, that is an invaluable experience for us moving forward," said Brandwene. "We saw a lot of things today that were really good, and a number of things that we kind of knew we were going to have to build off of given the fact that our preseason was pretty short."
Hannah Ehresmann picked up the win and stopping all 14 shots she faced. Daniela Paniccia came in for Ehresmann midway through the second period and made nine saves on 10 shots.
"It was planned from the start that they were going to split the game," said Brandwene. "It was a great opportunity to get everyone reps. This was planned for us to take a timeout right in the middle and for them to split the game."
On the offensive side, Amy Petersen led the barrage on the Guelph goaltender all game long. Petersen led the team with four shots including a beautiful one-timer into the top left corner of the net in the second period. Petersen also dished out two assists to go along with the goal.
"Our team is just playing well as a whole and our chemistry is forming really well this early in the season," said Petersen. "Our teammates put me in good spots. They were working hard to get open and it all worked out."
Petersen highlighted the freshmen as well and how they have seamlessly become a part of this Penn State culture.
"Adding eight freshmen is a ton but they've done really well so far," said Petersen. "Everything from off the ice and on the ice, they're really fitting the team well. I think we're headed in the right direction this early in the season."
Petersen and Laura Bowman both found the net on man advantages. The Nittany Lions converted both of their power play opportunites while effectively killing off all four Guelph power plays.
"We didn't really practice the power play last week," said Bowman. "I think that's a really good sign for what to expect for the season."
Brandwene additionally highlighted neutral zone play as something the Nittany Lions can build from heading into the regular season.
"I thought we were really patient in the neutral zone, and that's something we had spent the week working on," said Brandwene. "It really started to click in the last couple of days and it was great to see them carry it over in terms of puck possession, support, filling lanes and making head man opportunities."
Meike Meilleur and Kelly Seward also netted goals as the Nittany Lions put a solid first effort out on the ice to start the 2016-17 campaign.
The regular season begins with a pair of games at Clarkson next weekend. The home opener is set for Oct. 14 vs Boston University.