Oct. 13, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team (1-3-0, 0-0-0 CHA) returns to the Pegula Ice Arena for its first home series of the 2016-17 season this weekend against the Boston University Terriers (2-1-0, 2-1-0 WHEA), Oct. 14-15. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with free live stats and live video via GoPSUsports.com.
TICKET INFORMATION
Single game tickets for the 2016-17 season are five dollars each. Fans can purchase single game tickets, group tickets, and Family 4 Pack deals by calling 1-800-NITTANY. All ticket purchases can be made over the phone (1-800-NITTANY) or by visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.).
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
New for the 2016-17 women's hockey season is the Cubs Corner. The Cubs Corner is a kids zone inside Gate B where kids can enjoy a variety of crafts and activities including trying their hand at shooting at the hockey inflatable. Also at the Cubs Corner parents will be able to register their kids, ages 5-12, for Zamboni rides. There will be one child randomly selected for each intermission at every home game this season.
Fans are invited to partake in a free post-game skate with the Penn State women's hockey team following the conclusion of Saturday's game.
PROGRAMS AND YEARBOOKS
Fans can purchase a commemorative program for each home series at the Pegula Ice Arena. Programs and yearbooks will be on-sale at the concession stand at Gate A. Programs are $1 and yearbooks are $6.
ADMISSION & BAG POLICY
Fans attending Penn State women's hockey games at Pegula Ice Arena will have to comply with Penn State University's Bag Policy. Fans are advised that no bags larger than backpacks may be brought into the Pegula Ice Arena. This includes duffle bags and purses larger than 8.5" x 11" x 6" and all bags will be searched. For more information visit the Safety Policy SY44 Page or Penn State's Bag Policy Page.
LAST TIME OUT: UNION
The Penn State women's hockey team is coming off a series split last weekend at Union. The Nittany Lions recorded an 8-1 victory before falling 4-2 in the series finale on Oct. 8.
In the opener, Amy Petersen and Laura Bowman each tallied a hat trick, while Irene Kiroplis and Christi Vetter each scored their first goals of the season. Petersen recorded her first career hat trick as a Nittany Lion over the first 10:31 of the game, while Bowman completed her second career hat trick during the second period. Bowman and Petersen paced the Nittany Lion offense with four points each, while freshman Brooke Madsen tied a program-best three assists in the victory.
In net for the Nittany Lions in the opener, true freshman Daniela Paniccia recorded 40 saves en route to her first career victory in her first career start.
In the finale, Bowman recorded her fourth goal of the weekend and Kelly Seward picked up her first goal of the year in the 4-2 loss. Paniccia made 21 saves in the loss.
SCOUTING BOSTON UNIVERSITY
The Boston University Terriers head to Happy Valley following a 3-2 loss at Vermont last weekend in Burlington, Vt. The Terriers are 2-1 overall on the year with all three games taking place in Hockey East play.
The Terriers return 15 members from the 2015-16 team that finished with an overall record of 23-14-2 and a record of 17-5-2 in Hockey East play.
Individually, sophomore Sammy Davis leads the BU offense with eight points (8a) followed by senior Samantha Sutherland who has recorded seven points (7g). Davis is tied for third in the nation in overall points, while Sutherland is tied for eighth.
In net for the Terriers, senior Victoria Hanson has started two games in 2016-17 with junior Erin O'Neil starting one game.
In 2016-17, Hanson has played 118:42 minutes, allowed five goals, made 70 saves, recorded a goals against average of 2.53 and tallied a save percentage of .933. O'Neil has played 59:46 minutes, allowed one goal, made 18 saves, recorded a goals against average of 1.00 and posted a save percentage of .947.
CHA HONORS
Following the Union series, a pair of Nittany Lions received weekly honors from the College Hockey America conference. Brooke Madsen was named the Rookie of the Week for the first time, while Amy Petersen was tabbed the Player of the Week for the second time in her career.
Madsen tied a program-best three assists in Penn State's 8-1 win over the Union Dutchwomen on Oct. 7. She finished the game with a +5 rating, which is tied for a program-best mark. With her three assists on Oct. 7, Madsen opened up her Nittany Lion career with a three-game point streak (1-4-5).
Petersen tallied five points (3-2-5) in the Union series, which included a career-best four points (3-1-4) in the series opener.
In the series opener, Petersen recorded the fourth hat trick in program history over a span of 10:31 to open the game. Her natural hat trick started with the fastest goal in program history to start a game (29 seconds). Petersen also became the first Nittany Lion in program history to score two power play goals in a single game. She then closed out the series with one assist on Oct. 8.
POWER PLAY SUCCESS
The Nittany Lions have scored at least one power play goal in each of the past four games to open the 2016-17 season. The Nittany Lions set a program-best five games with at least one power play goal Oct. 26-Nov. 8, 2014.
As a team, the Nittany Lions have scored five power play goals, which is tied for third-best in the nation.
HAT TRICK (X2)
The Penn State women's hockey team recorded a pair of hat tricks in its 8-1 win at Union on Oct. 7. In the game, Amy Petersen scored her first career hat trick, while Laura Bowman netted her second career hat trick. In program history, the Nittany Lions have recorded five hat tricks.
In the 2016-17 season, Minnesota-Duluth is the only other program with two hat tricks.
AMONG THE BEST OF THE BEST
Heading into the weekend series against Boston University, Laura Bowman is tied for eighth in the nation in points with seven. Along with Bowman, Brooke Madsen, Amy Petersen and Kelly Seward are tied for 22nd in points with five points each.
In assists, Brooke Madsen, Kelly Seward and Bella Sutton are tied for sixth with four apiece. Madsen is also tied for the lead in nation in assists among freshmen.
PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State women's hockey team was selected fourth in the College Hockey America (CHA) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office Sept. 19.
2016-17 CAPTAINS
Laura Bowman was named the captain of the 2016-17 Nittany Lions, while Kelsey Crow and Amy Petersen were named alternate captains.
WELCOME BACK
The Nittany Lions return 13 members from the 2015-16 campaign. Last year, Penn State finished third in the CHA regular season standings, its best finish in program history.
The Nittany Lions return four of their top six scorers from last season in Amy Petersen (29 points), Laura Bowman (25 points), Victoria Samuelsson (13 points) and Bella Sutton (12 points).
In net, junior Hannah Ehresmann returns to PSU after playing in 15 games last season.
DYNAMIC DUO
Nittany Lion linemates Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen return to the Blue and White for their senior season in 2016-17. During their junior seasons, Bowman tallied 25 points (17g, 8a) and Petersen recorded a career-best 29 points (8g, 21a).
Last season, Petersen recorded an assist on 12 Bowman goals. Petersen closed out her junior year with 18 points over the final 16 games and Bowman ended the year with four-straight games with a goal.
2015-16 RECAP
The Nittany Lions finished the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 12-19-6 and a record of 6-8-6 in CHA play. Penn State finished third in CHA regular season standings, its best finish in program history.
Penn State tallied a record of 5-2-1 during the month of January last season.
In the first-ever meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Boston University Terriers, Penn State topped the No. 7/8 Terriers, 5-3, for its third win in program history over a ranked team.
In the all-time record books, Laura Bowman scored a single-season program-record 17 goals, she also tied a single-season program-best six power play goals scored and Amy Petersen recorded a single-season program-best 21 assists.
NEW FACES TO THE PROGRAM
The 2016-17 team features eight Nittany Lion freshmen. The Nittany Lion class of 2020 includes: Caileah Forrest, Brooke Madsen, Amanda McLeod, Katie McMillan, Daniela Paniccia, Kate Rydland, Olivia Villani and Abby Welch.
Along with the eight freshmen, two assistant coaches are slated to begin their first year on the bench for Penn State. Dean Jackson and Lisa Marshall joined the Nittany Lion coaching staff prior to the start of the 2016-17 season.
Jackson joined the Nittany Lions after serving as the head coach of the Elmira College women's hockey program for the past four seasons. Prior to Penn State, Marshall was an assistant coach for two seasons with the RIT Tigers.
THE 2016-17 SLATE
The Nittany Lions will play 34 games over the course of the 2016-17 regular season, which includes 16 home games inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
The 2016-17 schedule features the 2014 NCAA champion Clarkson Golden Knights (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), the second-ever series against Boston University (Oct. 14-15), a home series against Ohio State (Jan. 6-7) and the Nittany Lions close out the regular season at home against Syracuse (Feb. 24-25).
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions travel to Storrs, Conn., for a series against the UConn Huskies, Oct. 21-22.