Feb. 17, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team captured a 2-0 victory to complete a series sweep of College Hockey America (CHA) opponent RIT Saturday afternoon inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
For the Nittany Lions on the day, sophomore Abby Welch (East Amherst, N.Y.) and freshman Natalie Heising (Maple Grove, Minn.) each tallied a goal, while senior Hannah Ehresmann (Minnetonka, Minn.) made 22 saves for the shutout victory.
With 5:12 remaining in the opening period, Penn State (8-13-11, 5-6-7 CHA) capitalized on its third power-play opportunity of the game as Welch netted her second goal of the season to put Penn State in front of the RIT Tigers, 1-0. On Welch's goal, Bella Sutton (Shoreview, Minn.) recorded the primary assist and Meike Meilleur (Winnipeg, Manitoba) picked up the secondary assist.
The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Blue & White until Heising scored her third goal of the series with 7:27 left in regulation. Heising's goal saw sophomore Brooke Madsen (Eagan, Minn.) and Sutton record assists.
Looking to get on the scoreboard, the Tigers (4-25-3, 1-17-0 CHA) pulled netminder Jenna De Jonge in favor of the extra attacker with 1:07 left to play in regulation, but were unable to find the back of the net.
De Jonge finished the day in net for RIT with a 38-save outing.
Penn State closes out the 2017-18 regular season when it hosts Lindenwood at the Pegula Ice Arena, Feb. 23-24. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. each day.
NOTES: Penn State leads the all-time series against RIT, 15-13-3...Penn State outshot RIT, 40-22...Penn State went 1-for-6 on the power play, while RIT went 0-for-4...Penn State swept the 2017-18 regular season series against RIT, which included three shutouts...Heising has scored five goals over the past three games...Madsen recorded her team-leading 16th assist of the season...Sutton recorded fourth career game with at least two assists.