Jan. 20, 2017
| ||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team begins a four-game homestand starting with RIT this weekend. The Nittany Lions (5-15-4, 4-5-1 CHA) host the RIT Tigers (4-19-1, 2-7-1 CHA) Saturday, Jan. 21, and Sunday, Jan. 22. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. each day.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and live video via GoPSUsports.com.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Sunday's game is a Family 4-Pack game. For $30, fans can buy four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks.
TICKET INFORMATION
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.).
SCOUTING RIT
RIT heads to Happy Valley sporting an overall record of 4-19-1 and a CHA record of 2-7-1. Last weekend, the RIT Tigers split a weekend tilt at Mercyhurst. The Mercyhurst Lakers took the series opener, 5-2, before the Tigers captured a 4-0 victory in the finale.
Sophomore forward Kendall Cornine leads the Tiger offense on the year with 12 points (6-6). Along with Cornine, senior Caitlin Wallace ranks second in points on the team with nine (5-4-9) and sophomore Reagan Rust ranks third with seven points (1-6-7).
In net for the Tigers, Terra Lanteigne has played in 15 games on the year, which includes 14 starts. During her freshman campaign in 2016-17, Lanteigne has a record of 3-11-0, has made 432 saves, has a goals against average of 2.81, a save percentage of .917 and has tallied two shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY VS. RIT
RIT leads the all-time series against Penn State, 12-10-2. The Nittany Lions have won seven-straight games between the two programs, which included a pair of shutout victories earlier this season in Rochester, N.Y. The pair of shutout victories for the Nittany Lions marked the first CHA road sweep in program history.
Laura Bowman is tied with Shannon Yoxheimer for the most points by a Nittany Lion against RIT. Bowman has 15 points on six goals and nine assists, while Yoxheimer has 10 goals and five assists. Bowman holds the program record in assists against RIT with nine.
In the first series between the two programs earlier this season, Amy Petersen recorded a short-handed goal in each game.
LAST TIME OUT: SYRACUSE
The Nittany Lions closed out their first half of CHA conference play with a pair of losses on the road at Syracuse last weekend inside the Tennity Ice Pavilion.
Syracuse topped Penn State, 3-1, in the series opener with freshman Brooke Madsen netting her fourth career goal. In the series finale, Syracuse defeated Penn State, 4-1, with freshman Abby Welch tallying her third career goal.
NIELSEN NAMED HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD NOMINEE
Senior Sarah Nielsen has been nominated for the 2017 Hockey Humanitarian Award, as announced by the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Nielsen is one of 15 student-athletes, and one of five female student-athletes, nominated for the award. She joins David Goodwin of the Penn State men's hockey program on the nominee list.
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 six individuals to tally at least two hat tricks this season.
AMONG THE BEST OF THE BEST
Among the nation's leaders heading into the weekend, Laura Bowman is tied for seventh in goals (14), is tied for 53rd in assists (11), is tied for 24th in points (14-11-25), is tied for eighth in shots on goal (106) and is third in faceoff wins (286).
Amy Petersen is tied for 28th in goals (11), is tied for 75th in assists (10), is tied for 36th 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 ninth among freshmen, and is tied for 53rd, in assists (11). Madsen also ranks 15th in points among freshmen with 15 (4-11).
Freshman goaltender Daniela Paniccia ranks 28th in save percentage (.914), is tied for ninth in shutouts (three) and she ranks 34th in goals against average (2.72).
Among freshmen netminders, Paniccia ranks sixth in goals against average, fourth in saves (457), sixth in save percentage, tied for fourth in wins (five) and is tied for the lead in shutouts.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Compared to last season after 24 games, the 2016-17 Nittany Lions are +12 in goals for, +8 in power play goals and +35 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 137 points, 53 goals, 84 assists and 17 power play goals.
The Nittany Lions are currently recording program-best numbers in points per game (5.71), goals per game (2.21), assists per game (3.50) and shots per game (25.29).
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.
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), Morgan Rolph (Mitchell, Ontario) and Sophie Slattery (Edina, Minn.) will be on campus for the 2017-18 season.
HEISING WINS GOLD
Incoming Nittany Lion Natalie Heising and the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team defeated Canada, 3-1, to capture its third-straight IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship on Jan. 14. Heising, a forward from Maple Grove, Minn., was named one of Team USA's three top players of the tournament.
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 close out their four-game homestand next weekend as they welcome CHA opponent Mercyhurst to the Pegula Ice Arena for a series Jan. 27-28. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. and 2 p.m.