Nov. 30, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team (2-7-8, 0-2-4 CHA) heads to Rochester N.Y., to close out the 2017 fall semester against the RIT Tigers (4-10-2, 1-5-0 CHA). Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 1, and 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Gene Polisseni Center.
FOLLOW ALONG
Both games will be streamed via stretchinternet.com, but fans must have an account to access the video. Fans can also follow along with live stats on ritathletics.com.
LAST TIME OUT: NUTMEG CLASSIC
Penn State heads into the series at RIT following a pair of ties at the Nutmeg Classic. Penn State opened the tournament with a 1-1 tie against UConn (Nov. 24), but UConn advanced past Penn State in the shootout, 2-1.
The Nittany Lions closed out the Nutmeg Classic with a 2-2 tie against Yale (Nov. 25) in the consolation round. Trailing 2-0 heading into the third period, freshman Natalie Heising scored her fourth career goal at 6:55 and then with 1:51 left in regulation, Bella Sutton tallied her second goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2.
For her two-point effort, and game-tying goal late in regulation against Yale, Sutton was named to the Nutmeg Classic All-Tournament Team.
In net for the Nittany Lions, Hannah Ehresmann played all 130 minutes, tallied a goals-against average of 1.38, recorded a save percentage of .929, and made 39 saves.
LOOKING AT RIT
RIT enters the series against Penn State with an overall record of 4-10-2 and a record of 1-5-0 in College Hockey America (CHA) play.
Last weekend at the Windjammer Classic in Burlington, Vt., RIT played to a 1-1 tie against Vermont, but fell 1-0 in the shootout, before dropping a 6-1 contest to No. 2 Colgate.
Offensively, Kandice Sheriff leads the team in assists (seven) and points (10), while Kendall Cornine leads the team in goals (five).
Terra Lanteigne and Jessi O'Leary have played the majority of the time in net for the Tigers this season. Lanteigne has started nine games, while O'Leary has started six contests.
On the year, Lanteigne has a goals-against average of 3.41, a save percentage of .922, tallied 331 saves, has allowed 28 goals, and owns a record of 3-5-1. In 2017-18, O'Leary has a goals-against average of 2.98, a save percentage of .899, made 169 saves, allowed 19 goals, and owns a record of 1-4-1.
SERIES HISTORY VS. RIT
RIT leads the all-time series against Penn State, 13-11-3. The two teams last met in the first round of the 2017 CHA Tournament with RIT defeating Penn State, 2-1.
During the 2016-17 regular season, Penn State went 3-0-1 against RIT, which included three shutout victories.
HOMECOMING
This weekend's series at RIT will be a homecoming for assistant coach Celeste Brown as she graduated from RIT in 2015.
While at RIT, Brown's class tallied a 15-2 record in postseason play, which included an NCAA Division III National Championship in 2012, and back-to-back CHA titles in 2014-15.
Individually, she was a two-time captain and netted 70 points on 42 goals and 28 assists. Brown closed out her collegiate career as RIT's Division I career leader with 30 career goals and her nine game-winning goals were tied for ninth-best at RIT.
PLAYING EXTRA TIME
Halfway into the 2017-18 season and Penn State has played to overtime 10 times, which ties the program record set in 2015-16. Penn State is 1-1-8 in overtime contests this season.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Heading into the RIT series, the duo of Natalie Heising and Katie Rankin have made their impact felt among the freshmen in the College Hockey America conference.
Among freshmen in the CHA, Heising is first in shots (52), is tied for second in goals (four), is second in points (10), is tied for the lead in assists (six), and is fourth in faceoff wins (84).
Along with Heising, Rankin is first in faceoff wins (225), is third in shots (41), is tied for seventh in goals (two), is tied for eighth in assists (three), and is tied for seventh in points (five).
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 freshmen 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.
Ehresmann and Heising were once again honored by the CHA on Nov. 27.
Following a stretch of three games in five days, Ehresmann was tabbed the CHA Goalie of the Week and Heising was named the CHA Rookie of the Week.
Penn State played to a 1-1 tie at No. 8 Cornell (Nov. 21), before heading to the Nutmeg Classic in Storrs, Conn. At the Nutmeg Classic, Penn State tied UConn, 1-1, (Nov. 24) and tied Yale, 2-2, (Nov. 25).
For Ehresmann, she started all three games, recorded a goals-against average of 1.23, tallied a save percentage of .937, and recorded 59 saves.
Heising tallied three points during the three-game stretch, which included a one-goal and one-assist outing against Yale (Nov. 25).
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
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 blue line, 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 15 goals, 33 assists, and 48 points.
On the power play, Sutton is tied for third in points (28), fourth in goals (nine), and is tied for second in assists (19).
Crow, a junior defenseman, served as an alternate captain last season. Crow is tied for second in goals by a defenseman (eight), is fourth in points by a defenseman (17), and is sixth in assists by a defenseman (nine).
Hardy, a senior forward, has played in 88 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).
NEXT UP
Penn State returns to action with a trip to No. 5 Ohio State, Jan. 5-6, 2018. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio.