UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team scored a season-high five goals, including three in the third period to cap off a 5-3 victory over Providence Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State (4-3-1) had four different goal scorers in the game, led by a pair from Natalie Heising. Katie McMillan and Meike Meilleur also scored even-strength goals and Shea Nelson tacked on an empty-netter.
Providence (4-1) scored all three of its goals in the third period in its first loss of the season.
"I thought it was a great bounce back win for us for sure," said Head Coach Jeff Kampersal. "We wanted to be a little more aggressive…but it ended up working out for us."
Nittany Lion goaltender Jenna Brenneman started her eighth-straight game in goal and tied a season high with 26 saves. Providence's Sandra Abstreiter made 23 saves in goal.
Penn State's aggression was on display in the first period when the Nittany Lions jumped out in front just under three minutes into the game. Heising lifted a sharp-angled shot just underneath the crossbar after an extended shift in the offensive zone for the 1-0 advantage. Katie Rankin and Morgan Rolph had helpers on the goal.
The Nittany Lions' tacked on to their lead in the second period with McMillan's second score of the weekend series. Loli Fidler wrapped a pass from behind the net to McMillan in the crease who finished the play for her fourth goal of the season at the 11:12 mark.
Heising added her second of the game to begin the scoring in what turned out to be a six-goal third period. She snuck a shot between Abstreiter's legs to give the Nittany Lions a three-goal advantage at 12:20. Rankin earned her second assist of the afternoon on the play.
Down 3-0 with seven minutes to play, Providence began pulling Abstreiter from goal for an extra skater and the strategy worked at the 13:06 mark. Christina Putigna scored unassisted to put Providence on the board.
Just seven seconds later, Penn State extended its lead back to three on Meike Meilleur's first goal of 2018-19. Shea Nelson threw a shot off Abstreiter's pads and Meilleur buried the loose puck.
Providence pulled its goalie once again for an extra attacker, but Nelson stole the puck in the defensive zone and sped down the right side to score on the empty net and put the Nittany Lions' in front 5-1 with 4:40 left to play.
The Friars continued to make things interesting by capitalizing on two late power plays at 17:32 and 18:54, but the Nittany Lions hung on to win their first home game of the season.
"Overall I was really proud of the group and the way they bounced back and competed," Kampersal said.
GAME NOTES
Penn State improved to 4-0 this season and 13-0-2 since the start of 2017-18 when scoring at least three goals…Heising's two-goal game was the fifth of her career, which ranks third in Penn State program history behind Laura Bowman (9) and Shannon Yoxheimer (8)…Providence had the advantage in shots 29-28…Friars forward Sarah Hjalmarsson had a game-high nine shots while Heising and Rankin tied the Nittany Lion team lead with five each…Penn State begins conference play in College Hockey America next weekend on the road at Mercyhurst Oct. 26-27.
