UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team begins its 2018-19 season on the road against fifth-ranked Colgate in a two-game series Sept. 28-28 at Class of 1965 Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Date: Friday, Sept. 28 | Saturday, Sept. 29
Time: 6 p.m. Friday | 3 p.m. Saturday
Place: Class of 1965 Arena | Hamilton, N.Y.
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2
Livestream: ESPN + (Subscription required)
2018-19 CAPTAINS
It was announced last Thursday Kelsey Crow would be the captain of the 2018-19 Nittany Lions. Now joining Crow as alternate captains will be junior forward Brooke Madsen and sophomore forward Natalie Heising.
"Like Kelsey, Brooke and Natalie are leaders in all aspects of their Penn State life. They love to compete and they lead by example while also living by our core values," said Head Coach Jeff Kampersal.
Madsen was the Nittany Lions' second-leading scorer last season with 21 points. and was named to the CHA All-Rookie Team in 2016-17.
Heising needed just one season to set a program record with 19 goals and took home the hardware has the CHA Rookie of the Year and an All-CHA Second Team honoree.
LAST TIME OUT: RYERSON
Last Saturday, Penn State put together an impressive effort in taking down Ryerson 4-0 in an exhibition at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions outshot Ryerson 31-8 for the game, including 12-1 in the second period. Penn State also had great success on the power play, scoring three goals in six tries on eight shots on goal.
Freshman Loli Fidler scored the game's first goal late in the first period on the man-advantage. Fellow freshman Jessica Adolfsson pitched in a power-play marker in the second period, while Meike Meilleur scored Penn State's lone even-strength tally in the second frame. Katie Rankin scored the final goal in the third period.
Goaltenders Chantal Burke, Cam Leonard, and Jenna Brenneman combined for the shutout with each playing one period.
LOOKING AT COLGATE
The Colgate Raiders are fresh off an outstanding 34-6-1 season that including an NCAA runner-up finish a season ago. The Raiders fell 2-1 in overtime to ECAC rival Clarkson in last year's title game.
Colgate enters the 2018-19 season ranked fifth in both the USCHO.com poll and the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll. The Raiders return 16 players from last season's ECAC regular-season championship squad while welcoming eight new players to the team.
The Raiders ranked sixth nationally in goals-per-game in 2017-18 at 3.66. They ranked even higher defensively allowing just 1.71 goals-per-game, the fifth-best mark in the country.
A trio of All-ECAC players return from last year's team, including forward Jesse Eldridge, forward Shae Labbe and goaltender Julia Vandyk. Eldridge tied for the national lead in game-winning goals a season ago with eight and has scored 109 points in 116 career games.
SERIES HISTORY VS. COLGATE
Penn State leads the all-time series against Colgate, 3-1. This series marks the first time the programs have faced each other since 11/8/14.
The Nittany Lions have won three-straight against the Raiders since dropping an 3-2 overtime contest in the first all-time meeting 1/10/14.
BACK FOR MORE
Penn State returns its top three scorers from a season ago. Sophomore Natalie Heising set a program record with 19 goals last season, including 10 on the power play which tied for the best mark in Division I women's hockey. Heising also finished with nine assists for a team-high 28 points.
Junior Brooke Madsen put together her second-straight 21-point season. She scored four goals and had 17 helpers after netting seven goals and adding 14 assists her freshman season.
Sophomore Katie Rankin ranked third among College Hockey America freshman with 19 points last season. She scored seven times, including two two-goal games against Ohio State (1/5/18) and Lindenwood (1/13/18).
NEW FACES
The Penn State women's hockey program welcomes six freshman and one transfer student-athlete to Hockey Valley.
This season's freshman class includes Loli Fidler, Rene Gangarosa, Jessica Adolfsson, Amy Dobson, Anna Promersberger, and Izzy Heminger.
Junior transfer Jenna Brenneman also joins the program after spending the last two seasons with back-to-back NCAA Champion Clarkson.
NEARING THE CENTURY MARK
The Nittany Lions have three seniors quickly approaching 100 games played for their career. Meike Meilleur enters the 2018-19 season with 95 games played. Christi Vetter as appeared in 88 career games, while Kelsey Crow sits at 86.
For the latest updates on Penn State women's ice hockey, follow @PennStateWHKY on Twitter, "like" the Penn State Women's Ice Hockey page on Facebook, and follow @pennstatewhky on Instagram.
