TROY, N.Y. – The Penn State women's hockey team blanked its opponent for the first time this season in Friday evening's 4-0 shutout of RPI at the Houston Field House.
Jenna Brenneman picked up her first shutout of the season with 22 saves in goal. Izzy Heminger led five multi-point scorers with three points on a goal and two assists.
The Nittany Lions ended a four-game losing skid with the win (5-7-1) while putting RPI's two-game win streak to a halt (4-6-2).
The Nittany Lions got off to a solid start early in the first period by drawing a holding penalty against RPI. On the power play, Kelsey Crow navigated from center ice down the left side and snuck a backhanded shot past Engineer goaltender Lovisa Selander to open the scoring for the game at 6:53.
The goal was Crow's first of the season. Natalie Heising (9) and Heminger (2) picked up assists on the score.
That trio would appear in the scoresheet once again in the second period, just in a different order. On another Penn State power play, Heminger and Crow worked the puck down low for Heising who deked an RPI defender on the half wall and walked into the circle for an open wrist shot. Her shot went off the post and in to put the Nittany Lions ahead by two at 9:17.
Heminger's scoring night wasn't finished there as she added another point, this time in the goal column, at 14:53 to give the Blue and White a three-goal lead. Abby Welch won the face off and Sophie Slattery (1) worked the loose puck back to the point for Heminger who threw a seeing-eye shot on goal. The goal was Heminger's second in as many games played.
The contagious scoring trend continued with the fourth Nittany Lion goal of the night with 20 seconds remaining in the second. Penn State's third power play of the evening had just expired when Slattery netted her first of the season on a loose puck from the right circle. Meike Meilleur (3) and Welch (3) had the helpers on the fourth score.
The third period was quiet in the scoring category, but Brenneman made a few solid saves in the frame to preserve her shutout. She made nine saves in the final frame to preserve her second career shutout and her first as a Nittany Lion.
GAME NOTES
- This was the first ever matchup between the Nittany Lions and Engineers.
- Penn State held a 27-22 advantage in shots on goal.
- Brenneman's shutout was the first for Penn State since 2/17/18 vs. RIT (2-0, Hannah Ehresmann)
- The Nittany Lions allowed just one RPI shot on goal through the first ten minutes.
- Penn State finished 2-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
- RPI had entered the game with the nation's best penalty kill (96%, 24-for-25) and the Nittany Lions started the night with eight-straight scoreless power play chances.
- The last time Penn State scored multiple power play goals was 10/27 at Mercyhurst.
- The Nittany Lions' five multi-point scorers is the most they've had in a single game this season.
- Heminger now has four points in her last two games and is the second Penn State freshman to record three points in a game this season (Loli Fidler, 10/27 at Mercyhurst).
- Crow ranks second among CHA defensemen with nine points, trailing only Syracuse's Allie Munroe.
- Heising now has 16 points on seven goals and nine assists, trailing only Robert Morris' Jaycee Gebhard (19) for the conference points lead.
Penn State and RPI finish their non-conference series tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. at Houston Field House.