Feb. 9, 2017
| ||||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With six games remaining in the regular season, the Penn State women's hockey team (6-17-5, 5-7-2 CHA) begins its final stretch of College Hockey America (CHA) play at Lindenwood (5-18-2, 3-10-1 CHA) Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Lindenwood Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. (EST) this weekend.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and video courtesy of Lindenwood. Live stats are free, but fans must have an account to watch the stream.
SCOUTING LINDENWOOD
The Lindenwood Lions enter the series against the Nittany Lions riding a five-game losing streak. On the year Lindenwood has an overall record of 5-18-2 and a CHA record of 3-10-1. Lindenwood is currently in sixth-place in the conference standings with seven points.
Offensively, Lindenwood is led by freshman Cierra Paisley, who has netted 10 points on two goals and a team-best eight assists. Freshman Courtney Ganske and junior Britannia Gillanders lead the team in goals with four apiece.
In net for Lindenwood, sophomore Jolene deBruyn has started 20 of 25 games this season. On the year, deBruyn has a record of 4-14-2, has made 576 saves, has a goals against average of 2.68 and has posted one shutout.
SERIES HISTORY VS. LINDENWOOD
Lindenwood leads the all-time series against the Nittany Lions, 9-8-3. Back in November, Penn State recorded a 3-2 win in the series opener and then the two teams played to a 1-1 tie.
In the all-time series against Lindenwood, Laura Bowman has scored seven goals and Amy Petersen has tallied 10 assists. Both Bowman (7-5--12) and Petersen (2-10--12) have recorded 12 career points against Lindenwood.
LAST TIME OUT: MERCYHURST
Two weeks ago, the Nittany Lions closed out the month of January with a pair of losses against the Mercyhurst Lakers. Mercyhurst took the opener, 6-0, before posting a 4-3 victory in the series finale.
In the series finale, Laura Bowman and Abby Welch each recorded two assists, while Amy Petersen posted a three-point game on one goal two assists. Also for the Nittany Lions in the series finale, freshmen Brooke Madsen and Katie McMillan each scored once.
During the third period of play, Bowman netted her second assist of the game, which gave her 100 career points. Following Petersen's three-point game on Jan. 28, she now has 96 career points.
CHA STANDINGS
With six games left for each team heading into the final stretch of conference play, the top four teams in the CHA are separated by 10 points.
Robert Morris leads the conference in points with 22, followed by Syracuse (20), Mercyhurst (13) and Penn State (12). RIT is currently in fifth-place with 10 points and Lindenwood is in sixth-place with seven points.
The 2017 CHA Tournament is scheduled for March 2-4 inside the HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, N.Y. The top two seeds will receive a bye in the CHA First Round, while the No. 3 seed takes on the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed plays the No. 5 seed. The lowest remaining seed will play the No. 1 seed during the CHA semifinal round.
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.
ECLIPSING THE CENTURY MARK
On Jan. 28, Laura Bowman recorded a two-assist performance to become the first Nittany Lion in program history to tally 100 career points.
Her second assist of the game came on an Amy Petersen goal during the third period of play. Bowman has 58 goals and 42 assists to her name while donning the Blue & White.
Petersen is closing in on 100 career points as she has 96 career points on 36 goals and 60 assists. Against Mercyhurst on Jan. 28, Petersen recorded one goal and two assists.
Junior defenseman Bella Sutton is four games shy of becoming the 13th Nittany Lion to skate in 100 career games.
AMONG THE BEST OF THE BEST
Among the nation's leaders heading into the weekend, Laura Bowman is tied for 22nd in goals (15), is tied for 54th in assists (13), is tied for 27th in points (15-13--28), is tied for eighth in shots on goal (131) and is fifth in faceoff wins (326).
Amy Petersen is tied for 37th in goals (12), is tied for 54th in assists (13), is tied for 40th in points (12-13--25), is tied for fifth in short-handed goals (two) and is 11th in shot percentage (.190).
Brooke Madsen is tied for 13th among freshmen, and is tied for 77th, in assists (12). Madsen is also tied for 14th in points among freshmen with 18 (6-12--18).
As a team, the Nittany Lions are tied for eighth in the nation in power play goals scored with 21 and their power play percentage of 16.4 ranks 11th in the nation.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Compared to last season after 28 games, the 2016-17 Nittany Lions are +14 in goals for, +11 in power play goals and +42 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 165 points, 63 goals, 102 assists and 21 power play goals.
The Nittany Lions are currently recording program-best numbers in points per game (5.89), goals per game (2.25), assists per game (3.64) and shots per game (25.43).
The 2014-15 season featured the Nittany Lions tally program-best numbers in goals scored (72) and power play goals scored (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 scored in a single season.
During the 2012-13 season, Shannon Yoxheimer tallied a program-record 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists and then in 2014-15, Bowman netted 31 points on 16 goals and 15 assists. Bowman also holds the program record for goals scored in a single season with 17 (2015-16).
In 26 games played this season, Bowman has 28 points on 15 goals and 13 assists.
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 eight 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 10 individuals to tally at least two hat tricks this season.
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.
BOWMAN FROM PETERSEN
During the 2016-17 season, Amy Petersen has assisted on seven 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.
NITTANY LIONS LIVE ON BTN
The Penn State women's hockey team will host Syracuse on Feb. 24 live on the Big Ten Network. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
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
With only four games left in the regular season, the Nittany Lions travel to Robert Morris for their final road trip of the regular season, Feb. 17-18. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. inside the 84 Lumber Arena.