Nov. 20, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team (2-7-5, 0-2-4 CHA) heads to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on the No. 8 Cornell Big Red (5-3-0, 5-1-0 ECAC) in a non-conference contest on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Puck drop for the first-ever meeting between the two programs is set for 3 p.m. at Lynah Rink.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with a video stream via the Ivy League Network, but fans must have a login to view the feed. Fans can also follow along with live stats via cornellbigred.com.
LAST TIME OUT: SYRACUSE
The Nittany Lions opened their 11-game road trip with a loss and a tie at Syracuse last weekend, Nov. 10-11. In the series at Syracuse, the Orange captured a 3-0 victory before the two teams played to a 2-2 tie in the finale.
In series finale against the Orange, freshman Sophie Slattery recorded her first two career goals to take a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but Syracuse was able to tie the contest forcing and sending the game into the 2-2 tie.
In net on the weekend for Penn State, Daniela Paniccia made 19 saves in 51:19 of action in the first game before freshman Chantal Burke closed out the contest and recorded five saves. In Saturday's contest, Hannah Ehresmann recorded a 23-save outing.
LOOKING AT CORNELL
No. 8 Cornell enters the game against Penn State with an overall record of 5-3-0 and is 5-1-0 in ECAC play. The Big Red tallied a pair of victories at Brown (5-1) and at Yale (3-0) this past weekend.
Offensively, Kristin O'Neill leads the team in assists and points with nine and 12, respectively. Along with O'Neill, Madlynne Mills has tallied nine points on a team-best six goals and has added three assists.
In net, Marlene Boissonnault has started all eight games on the season for Cornell. In 2017-18, she has made 185 saves, tallied a goals-against average of 1.93, and has a save percentage of .925.
SERIES HISTORY VS. CORNELL
Tuesday marks the first meeting between the two programs.
PLAYING EXTRA TIME
Only 14 games into the 2017-18 season and Penn State has played to overtime seven times. The program record for overtime games in a season for Penn State is 10, which was set in 2015-16.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Heading into the weekend, the duo of Natalie Heising and Katie Rankin have made their impact felt among the freshmen in the College Hockey America conference.
Among freshman in the CHA, Heising is first in shots (40), is tied for third in goals (three), is third in points (seven), is tied for third in assists (four), and is fourth in faceoff wins (68).
Along with Heising, Rankin is first in faceoff wins (180), is third in shots (33), is tied for seventh in goals (two), is tied for eighth in assists (two), and is tied for 10th in points (four).
CHA HONORS
Penn State netminders Hannah Ehresmann and Daniela Paniccia opened the 2017-18 season with back-to-back College Hockey America Goalie of the Week honors.
In the season-opening series at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth, Ehresmann made 60 saves, which included a 38-save outing in the series finale. Ehresmann kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in four of six periods during the two-game series.
A week later against Union, Paniccia made 24 saves, allowed only one goal, tallied a goals-against average of 0.71 and posted a save percentage of .960.
In addition to Ehresmann and Paniccia, freshman Natalie Heising brought home the CHA Rookie of the Month honor for Sept./Oct.
Among the CHA rookies after the first month of action, Heising ranked first in points (six), was tied for the lead in goals (three), ranked first in shots (32), was tied for second in assists (three), and was fifth in faceoff wins (49).
After netting a pair of goals in a 2-2 tie against Syracuse on Nov. 11, Sophie Slattery received the CHA Rookie of the Week honor.
NEW FACES
Along with the seven freshmen, the Penn State women's hockey program welcomes three new faces to Hockey Valley.
The Nittany Lion freshman class is comprised of Chantal Burke, Natalie Heising, Cam Leonard, Shea Nelson, Katie Rankin, Morgan Rolph, and Sophie Slattery.
Behind the bench, first-year head coach Jeff Kampersal brought on Celeste Brown and Allison Coomey to complete his coaching staff.
COACH KAMPERSAL
Jeff Kampersal brings more than 20 years of experience as a head coach to Hockey Valley.
Prior to joining the Nittany Lions during the summer of 2017, Coach Kampersal was the head coach of the Princeton Tigers for 21 seasons. During his tenure at Princeton, Coach Kampersal tallied a record of 327-261-58.
Heading into the 2017-18 season, Kampersal ranks fifth in career victories among active women's hockey coaches with 327, a total that ranks seventh all-time.
SMART LIONS
Seven members of the Penn State women's hockey program were named All-American Scholars for the 2016-17 season, as announced by American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).
Laura Bowman, Kelsey Crow, Katie McMillan, Amy Petersen, Kelly Seward, Bella Sutton, and Christi Vetter were among the 220 Division I-II student-athletes recognized by the AHCA.
HEISING WINS GOLD
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, 2017.
Heising, a forward from Maple Grove, Minn., was named one of Team USA's three top players of the tournament.
PRESEASON POLL
After finishing fourth in the 2016-17 College Hockey America (CHA) regular season standings, the Penn State women's hockey team was selected fourth in the 2017-18 CHA preseason poll.
WELCOME BACK
Penn State returns 17 letterwinners to the team for the 2017-18 season, including a pair of College Hockey America (CHA) All-Rookie Team honorees.
In their first year donning the Blue & White, Brooke Madsen and Katie McMillan made their presence felt throughout the season.
Madsen, a forward, played in all 35 games and netted 21 points (7g, 14a). Madsen's season was highlighted with a three-assist outing in an 8-1 victory at Union (10/7).
On the blueline, McMillan recorded 11 points on four goals and seven assists in 35 games played.
2017-18 CAPTAINS
Senior defenseman Bella Sutton will captain the 2017-18 Nittany Lions, while Kelsey Crow and Aly Hardy will serve as alternate captains.
Sutton holds the major scoring program records by a defenseman with 14 goals, 31 assists, and 35 points.
On the power play, Sutton ranks fourth all-time in points (26), fourth in goals (nine), and is third in assists (17).
Crow, a junior defenseman, served as an alternate captain last season. Crow ranks third in goals by a defenseman (seven), is fourth in points by a defenseman (15), and is tied for sixth in assists by a defenseman (eight).
Hardy, a senior forward, has played in 85 games and tallied 10 points on three goals and seven assists. Off the ice, Hardy serves as the vice president for the Penn State Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB).
THE 2017-18 SLATE
Penn State is slated to play 34 contests during the 2017-18 regular season, which includes 15 games at the Pegula Ice Arena.
The 2017-18 regular season is highlighted by a trip to Minnesota Duluth (Sept. 29-30), hosting defending NCAA Champion Clarkson (Oct. 13-14), two series against Robert Morris (Oct. 28-29 & Jan. 26-27), a trip to Ohio State (Jan. 5-6), and hosting Princeton (Jan. 30).
NEXT UP
Penn State closes out the Thanksgiving break with a trip to Storrs, Conn., for the Nutmeg Classic, Nov. 24-25. Penn State will play UConn on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. before taking on either Quinnipiac/Yale on Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. or 6 p.m.