Jan. 12, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team (5-13-4, 4-3-1 CHA) returns to College Hockey America (CHA) action with a weekend series at Syracuse (5-10-5, 4-2-2 CHA). Puck drop is set for Friday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 14, at 3 p.m. inside the Tennity Ice Pavilion.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats will be available for both games for no charge, while Friday's game will be streamed via Cuse.com, but fans must have an account to watch the game.
SCOUTING SYRACUSE
Syracuse heads into the weekend with an overall record of 5-10-5 and a 4-2-2 record in CHA play. The Orange enter the series against the Nittany Lions after tallying a 7-2 loss in an early-week matchup at Cornell Tuesday.
The Orange returned three All-CHA honorees from the 2015-16 season. Stephanie Grossi was named to the CHA First Team as a sophomore, Jessica Sibley shared the Best Defensive Forward award and was named to the CHA Second Team as a junior, and Megan Quinn was named to the CHA Second Team as a sophomore. Grossi and Sibley also shared the 2015-16 CHA Scoring Trophy.
Offensively for the Orange in 2016-17, Alysha Burriss leads the team in points with 14 (6g, 8a), Heather Schwarz leads the team in goals (nine) and Sibley leads the team in assists (10).
Junior Abbey Miller has started 17 of 20 games in net for the Orange. On the year, Miller has allowed 35 goals, recorded 352 saves, tallied a goals against average of 2.12, posted three shutouts and she owns a save percentage of .910.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SYRACUSE
Syracuse leads the all-time series against the Penn State, 14-1-3, which includes a record of 6-0-2 inside the Tennity Ice Pavilion.
Last season, three of the five games between the two teams were one-goal contests. The two teams battled for 116:10 minutes before Syracuse netted the game-winner to capture a 3-2 three-overtime win in the 2016 CHA Semifinal round.
Seniors Laura Bowman (7g, 5a) and Amy Petersen (4g, 8a) have each tallied a program-best 12 points against Syracuse.
LAST TIME OUT: OHIO STATE
The Nittany Lions closed out their non-conference slate last weekend with a series against Ohio State at home. OSU took the opener with a 5-0 win before tallying a 6-0 victory in the finale.
CHA HONORS
On the year, five Nittany Lions have combined for nine weekly CHA awards and a pair of CHA monthly honors.
Senior Laura Bowman was named the CHA Player of the Week on Dec. 5 and garnered CHA Player of the Month honors for Sept./Oct.
Classmate Amy Petersen was named the CHA Player of the Week twice this season (Oct. 10 & Nov. 7).
Three Nittany Lion freshmen have been named CHA Rookie of the Week. Brooke Madsen (Oct. 10) Katie McMillan (Nov. 7) and Daniela Paniccia (Oct. 24) have received CHA Rookie of the Week honors this season.
Along with her CHA Rookie of the Week honors, Paniccia has been named the CHA Goalie of the Week three times (Oct. 31, Nov. 14 & Jan. 2) and the CHA Goalie of the Month for Sept./Oct.
ECLIPSING THE CENTURY MARK
Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen are both inching closer to becoming the first Nittany Lions in program history to eclipsing 100 career points. Bowman has 96 points on 57 goals and 39 assists, while Petersen has 91 points on 35 goals and 56 assists.
Junior defenseman Bella Sutton is four games shy of becoming the 13th Nittany Lion to skate in 100 career games.
HAT, HAT, HAT TRICK
The Nittany Lions have tallied three hat tricks during the 2016-17 season, which included a pair of hat tricks in an 8-1 win over Union on Oct. 7. The Nittany Lions are one of six teams to tally at least three hat tricks on the year.
Individually, Laura Bowman has recorded two hat tricks (Oct. 7 - Union & Dec. 4 - Robert Morris) and Amy Petersen has one hat trick on the year (Oct. 7 - Union). Bowman is one of three individuals to tally at least two hat tricks this season.
AMONG THE BEST OF THE BEST
Laura Bowman is near the top in numerous national rankings. She is sixth in goals (14), is tied for 39th in assists (11), is tied for 16th in points (14-11--25), is third in shots on goal (106) and is second in faceoff wins (286).
Amy Petersen is tied for 20th in goals (11), is tied for 56th in assists (10), is tied for 26th in points (11-10--21), is tied for fourth in short-handed goals (two) and is ninth in shot percentage (.208).
Brooke Madsen is tied for seventh among freshmen, and is tied for 39th, in assists (11). Madsen also ranks 12th in points among freshmen with 14 (3g, 11a).
Freshman goaltender Daniela Paniccia ranks 27th in save percentage (.914), is tied for eighth in shutouts (three) and she ranks 29th in goals against average (2.70).
Among freshmen netminders, Paniccia ranks fourth in goals against average, third in saves (427), fourth in save percentage, tied for third in wins (five) and is tied for the lead in shutouts.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Compared to last season after 22 games, the 2016-17 Nittany Lions are +13 in goals for, +10 in power play goals and +41 in points.
Heading into the weekend, the Nittany Lion offense is closing in on program-best numbers. On the year, the Nittany Lions have netted 134 points, 51 goals, 83 assists and 17 power play goals.
The Nittany Lions are currently recording program-best numbers in points per game (6.09), goals per game (2.32), assists per game (3.77) and shots per game (26.14).
The 2014-15 season featured the Nittany Lions tally program-best numbers in goals (72) and power play goals (22). The 2012-13 season featured Penn State post program-best numbers in points (174) and assists (105).
Senior Laura Bowman is closing in on breaking the program record in points and goals in a single season. Shannon Yoxheimer recorded 31 points (14-17--31) during 2012-13 and Bowman scored 17 goals in 2015-16. In 22 games played this season, Bowman has 25 points on 14 goals and 11 assists.
POUNCING EARLY
Penn State is 4-0-2 on the year when leading after the first period and 4-2-0 when leading after the second period. Penn State is 4-2-2 on the year when scoring first.
PETERSEN TO BOWMAN
During the 2016-17 season, Amy Petersen has assisted on six Laura Bowman goals. Last season, Petersen recorded an assist on 12 Bowman goals.
FUTURE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State women's hockey head coach Josh Brandwene announced the signing of six future Penn State student-athletes to National Letters of Intent Wednesday, Nov. 16. Natalie Heising (Maple Grove, Minn.), Cam Leonard (Cary, N.C.), Shea Nelson (Evanston, Ill.), Katie Rankin (Kanata, Ontario, Canada), Morgan Rolph (Mitchell, Ontario, Canada) and Sophie Slattery (Edina, Minn.) will be on campus for the 2017-18 season.
PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State women's hockey team was selected fourth in the 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.
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.
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 host RIT for a weekend series inside the Pegula Ice Arena, Jan. 21-22. Puck drop for each day is set for 2 p.m.