HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Penn State women's hockey team took the initial lead in its 2018-19 regular season opener but eventually fell to the fifth-ranked Colgate Raiders 3-1 Friday evening at the Class of 1965 Arena.
Brooke Madsen scored Penn State's (0-1) first goal of the campaign on the power play in the second period. Natalie Heising and Kelsey Crow earned assists on the goal.
Goaltender Jenna Brenneman made 22 saves on 24 shots faced in her Penn State debut.
Colgate (1-0) scored three unanswered goals after Madsen's tally, including the tying goal just 57 seconds after Penn State's power-play marker.
The Nittany Lions controlled play throughout the first and second period, leading the Raiders in shots on goal 13-5 and 11-9 in the first and second periods respectivley.
After a scoreless first period, Penn State earned two power-play chances in the second frame. The Nittany Lions did not convert on the first, but made the second try count on Madsen's score.
Crow moved the puck to Heising on the left side for an open shot on goal. Madsen applied traffic in front of Colgate goaltender Julia Vandyk and got her stick on the shot to put it in the cage at 8:23 in the period.
Colgate's response was swift as Nemo Neubauerova scored at even strength at 9:20.
In the third, Colgate took its first lead of the game on the power play courtesy of Jessie Eldridge at 13:17.
Penn State had an opportunity to tie the game when a Colgate tripping penalty sent the Nittany Lions to the power play with 1:59 remaining. The Nittany Lions pulled Brenneman for an extra skater on the power play, but Colgate's Bailey Larson scored on the empty net with 25 seconds remaining to seal the Colgate victory.
Game Notes
- Penn State held a 36-30 edge in the face-off circle. Abby Welch won 17-of-21 draws
- The Nittany Lions blocked 17 shots compared to Colgate's eight. Jessica Adolfsson had four blocks to lead all skaters. Nine Penn State skaters recorded at least one blocked shot.
- Madsen had a game-high ten shots, with the next closest being Christi Vetter with four.
- Penn State still leads the all-time series with Colgate 3-2.
- Both teams square off again tomorrow, Sept. 29, at 3 p.m.