UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team hosts Merrimack this weekend, Oct. 5-6, in its first home series of the 2018-19 regular season. Friday's game is set for a 6 p.m. start while Saturday's game will begin at 2 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, Oct. 5 | Saturday, Oct. 6
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Time: Friday at 6 p.m. | Saturday at 2 p.m.
Watch: Game 1 on LionVision | Game 2 on LionVision
Live Statistics: Live Stats (Both games)
Game Notes: Penn State Vs. Merrimack
SATURDAY POWER PLAY
Saturday's game will be the first game of doubleheader at Pegula Ice Arena featuring the Penn State women's and men's teams. The women's team takes on Merrimack at 2 p.m. The men will play their International Game exhibition against Brock 45 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game.
A single game ticket to the women's game will grant admission to both contests. Tickets will be $5 for the general public while Penn State students' will be allowed free admission with a valid student ID. Gates open at 1:00 p.m and the first 500 students to show up will receive a Hockey Valley T-shirt.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here. All seating will be general admission in the lower bowl.
For additional information on the Penn State Saturday Power Play, click here.
LAST TIME OUT: COLGATE
Penn State began in 2018-19 regular season with a series split against fifth-ranked Colgate on the road last weekend.
Brooke Madsen tallied the Nittany Lions' lone goal and fired ten shots on net in a 3-1 loss in game one.
In game two, Penn State erased an early deficit to win 4-2. Freshman Rene Gangarosa tied the game in the first period. Katie McMillan score and assisted Abby Welch on the eventual game-winning goal in the second period. Natalie Heising scored on an empty net to seal the victory. Heising finished with three points (1G, 2A).
Jenna Brenneman split her first two decisions in goal, stopping 43 of 47 shots for a .915 save percentage.
LOOKING AT MERRIMACK
Merrimack enters this weekend's series fresh off a two-game sweep of Union to begin the season last weekend. The Warriors out of Hockey East outscored Union 7-1 for the weekend and scored a shutout in their season opener.
Merrimack has three different skaters tied for the team lead with three points each. Junior Mikyla Grant-Mentis scored three goals on ten shots last weekend, while senior Katelyn Rae added a goal and two assists on 14 shots. Freshman Gabby Jones tallied three assists.
Senior goaltender Samantha Ridgewell started off her 2018-19 season well with two wins and a shutout last weekend. She made 52 saves against Union and sports a .982 save percentage entering this weekend.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS MERRIMACK
This is Merrimack's first visit to Pegula Ice Arena and the second time these two programs face each other all-time. Last season, The Nittany Lions and Warriors split their two-game series in October in a pair of overtime games at Merrimack.
Natalie Heising scored her first career goal in the first game of last year's series as the Nittany Lions dropped the contest 2-1 in overtime. Heising also netted the Nittany Lion's opening score in the next game. Kelsey Crow and Bella Sutton ('18) scored the other regulation goals before Katie Rankin won the game 1:50 into overtime.
RECEIVING VOTES
Penn State received four votes in this week's version of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Women's College Hockey poll and two votes in the USCHO.com Women's College Hockey Poll. It is the first time the Nittany Lions have been received votes in the national polls since 10/19/2015 in the USCHO.com poll. That was also the first and only time Penn State has received votes for a national poll.
NOT PLAYING LIKE ROOKIES
Freshmen Rene Gangarosa, Jessica Adolfsson, and Anna Promersberger had outings last weekend in their first time donning the blue and white. Gangarosa netted her first career goal last Saturday and was named the CHA Rookie of the Week.
Gangarosa and Adolfsson helped anchor the Nittany Lion's defensive unit and are the team leaders in blocked shots. Adolfsson had eight blocks while Gangarosa pitched in six.
Promersberger picked up her first career point when she assisted on Natalie Heising's empty-net goal in last Saturday's 4-2 win.
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.
