Feb. 17, 2018
By Andy Kuros, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State stretches its unbeaten streak to four games after a series sweep of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) this weekend. Following a 4-1 victory Friday night, the Nittany Lions put together another solid performance on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 victory.
"I thought we played well from the get-go," head coach Jeff Kampersal said after the 2-0 win. "We started a lot faster today than yesterday."
After being shutout in the first period of game one, Penn State came out firing in game two, scoring a goal on 14 shots in the opening frame. Sophomore forward Abby Welch put the Blue and White on the board, scoring her second goal of the season with five minutes left in the frame.
Freshman Natalie Heising did her part on offense this weekend, as well. The Minnesota native scored the team's first two goals Friday night after Penn State fell behind by a goal early in the first period. She gave the team a much-needed spark.
"I just try to get pucks to the net," Heising said. "It doesn't have to be pretty but I just try getting pucks to the net and getting rebounds and taking shots. We had 39 shots and four goals so I'd say that's pretty good."
Heising, who is the team's leader in goals (14) and total points (23), scored one more on Saturday, as she extended the Nittany Lions' lead to two with 7:27 remaining in the game. Her three-goal weekend gives her fourteen on the season, which ranks sixth overall in the College Hockey America Conference.
Heising wasn't the only Penn Stater to shine this weekend. Senior goalie Hannah Ehresmann did her job in keeping RIT out of the scoring column.
"Defensively we didn't give up a lot of shots, but we did give up a few grade A opportunities," Kampersal said. "The times that we did break down, Hannah (Ehresmann) was there to shut the door, like she has been all season."
Ehresmann stopped a combined 33 shots against RIT this weekend and even registered her second shutout of the year in the second game of the series.
"I was seeing the puck really well and my defense helped me out a lot," Ehresmann said. "They made shots easier for me to see which made the game simpler for me overall."
Kampersal spoke highly about the performance of his goaltender, who improved her record to 7-8-9 on the year.
"When all else fails and they got a breakaway, Hannah came up big with a save" Kampersal said. "She's been big for us all year."
Thanks to the great play of Heising and Ehresmann, the Blue and White push their record to 8-13-11 overall on the season, and 5-6-7 in the College Hockey America Conference.
Looking ahead, the Nittany Lions will host Lindenwood University at the Pegula Ice Arena in the regular season finale before beginning the conference tournament. Penn State last played Lindenwood on the road in January which resulted in a series split. Puck drop is Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.