UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey takes its second road trip of the season this weekend when it travels to Schenectady, N.Y. to Union for a two-game set Friday and Saturday Oct. 12-13. Both games are set to begin at 3 p.m.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Matchup: Penn State (1-2-1) at Union (1-3-0)
Date: Oct. 12 | Oct. 13
Place: Messa Rink, Schenectady, N.Y.
Time: 3 p.m. | 3 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+ (U.S.) | Stretch Internet (International)
Listen: Radio Stream
Live Statistics: SideArm Statistics
Game Notes: Penn State at Union Notes
LAST TIME OUT: MERRIMACK
The Nittany Lions finished their first home stand of the season 0-1-1 against Merrimack last weekend at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State tied Merrimack in the first game with Natalie Heising scoring her second goal of the season in the game. Jessica Adolfsson earned her first career point and assist while Morgan Rolph also picking up a helper. The overtime game was the third-straight game where the Nittany Lions and Warriors went to OT.
In the Saturday's game, the Nittany Lions nearly completed a third-period comeback to tie the game but fell short 2-1. Katie Rankin scored her first goal of the season on assists from Anna Promersberger and Kelsey Crow.
LOOKING AT UNION
Union enters the weekend with a 1-3-0 overall record. Union split last weekend's series at home against Penn State conference foe Lindenwood. Union dropped game one 4-1 before bouncing back with a 3-2 win last Saturday.
Senior defenseman Arianna Kosakowski leads the Dutchwomen with three points on a goal and two assists through four games. Junior forward Haley Shugart has two goals, both scored on the power play. 2017-18 leading scorer Katelynn Russ (16G, 24Pts) has yet to record a point this season, but the junior forward leads the team with 14 shots on goal.
Union has had two goaltenders split time in net in sophomore Coco Francis and junior Amelia Murray. Both have made two starts, with Murray picking up her first win last Saturday. Murray's GAA sits at 2.51 with a .932 save percentage. Francis has a 3.51 GAA and a .883 save percentage in her two starts.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS UNION
Penn State leads the all-time series with Union 6-4-2 dating back to their first matchup in Jan. 2013. The Nittany Lions have won four of the last six matchups. Last season, Penn State won and tied the Dutchwomen at Pegula Ice Arena Oct. 6-7.
Christi Vetter, Meike Meilleur, and Shea Nelson scored for Penn State in it's 3-1 win to open the series. Katie Rankin's third period score in the second game tied the game at one on route to a 1-1 tie.
SOME ZING FROM HEISING
Through 40 career games, Natalie Heising has 21 goals and 12 assists for a 33-point total. Her 0.83 points-per-game is the second-most through 40 games for a Nittany Lion in program history, trailing only Shannon Yoxheimer (1.00 PPG) between 2012 and 2013.
Heising leads the Nittany Lions with two goals and three assists for five points this season. She tallied three assists and an empty-net goal in two games against #5 Colgate before last weekend's goal against Merrimack (10/5). She is tied for the team lead with 14 shots on goal (Brooke Madsen).
OFFENSE FROM DEFENSE
Senior defenseman Kelsey Crow has four points on four assists which ranks second on the Nittany Lions for the young season. Crow totaled a career-high 14 points (4G, 10A) in 2017-18.
Sophomore blue-liner Morgan Rolph has three points on three assists in four games this season, including her first multi-point game 9/29 against Colgate. Rolph's lone assist of the 2017-18 season came on 1/5/18 against Ohio State.
PK POWER
The Nittany Lion penalty kill stopped every Merrimack power play last weekend (4-of-4) and has now killed 10-of-12 (83.3%) opposing power plays this season. The last time the Nittany Lions scored a short-handed goal was 10/6/17 against Union courtesy of Christi Vetter.
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