UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team battled but dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 10/10 Boston University in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.
In a game much closer than the final score indicated, the Nittany Lions (3-4-3) really pushed the tempo in the second period getting a goal from Katie McMillan while outshooting the visitors 10-6.
"It was a very similar game to yesterday where I thought players played their hearts out and poured every ounce of energy they could," commented head coach Jeff Kampersal. "The team bought into what we were telling them, but we didn't work as hard as we usually do. We were taking a lot of penalties and we've been struggling on killing those penalties. So, it's a scenario we definitely need to improve moving forward."
Cam Leonard started her second-straight game between the pipes for the Nittany Lions making 18 stops while falling to 0-2-0 on the year. BU net-minder Kate Stuart collected 21 saves and improves to 1-1-0 on the season.
Boston (5-1-1) has now won four-straight games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Terriers didn't take long taking the initial advantage, scoring a power-play goal just 3:22 into the contest as Julia Nearis finished on the doorstep off a feed from Kaleigh Donnelly for the 1-0 advantage.
BU doubled its lead at the 12:46 mark just after a power-play expired as it was Deziray De Sousa slotting home a pass from Courtney Correia for the 2-0 margin heading into the first intermission.
Katie McMillan cut the deficit in half early in the second period as she received a pass from Rene Gangarosa and skated through the circles before ripping a shot far side over the blocker of BU net-minder Kate Stuart from below the right dot for the 2-1 score at 3:23 of the frame.
.@KatieMcMillan11 glides between the rings and rips one over the blocker cutting the deficit to 2-1 early in the second period!! #WeAre pic.twitter.com/SdoOJ8nPGC
— Penn State Women's Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) October 26, 2019
The Terriers regained the two-goal edge taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power-play as Nearis picked up her second goal of the game as she slung one in front from below the left circle and it snuck under the pads of Nittany Lion goaltender Cam Leonard for the 3-1 score at 11:35 of the second period.
BU added a pair of third period goals as Kaleigh Donnelly redirected a shot in the slot past Leonard at 1:58 and Abby Cook connected on the power-play for the 5-1 lead at 12:38.
GAME NOTES
- BU held the slim 23-22 margin in shots on goal and the 12-11 edge in blocked shots while going 3-for-6 on the power-play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
- Gangarosa assisted on McMillan's score collecting a point in her second-straight contest while Julie Gough added her first career assist with the secondary helper.
- Gangarosa now has five points in her last five games (2-3-5) while McMillan has seven points in her last five games (2-5-7). McMillian moved into seventh in the CHA with eight point on the season.
- The Nittany Lions hit the road next week as they travel to Robert Morris for a pair of CHA contests on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.