UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team tied the game late with a Shea Nelson goal, but the Syracuse Orange responded with the winning push to beat the Nittany Lions 3-1 in College Hockey America (CHA) action Sunday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.
Nelson scored Penn State's lone goal with 4:21 remaining in the third to tie the game at one, but Syracuse scored once on the power play with 1:59 remaining and added an empty netter to seal the win for the Orange.
"We all work hard but we continue to beat ourselves at inopportune times," said head coach Jeff Kampersal. "We score a goal, then took a bad penalty to give them the lead right back. It's frustrating."
Chantal Burke made 25 saves for the Nittany Lions in goal while Brooke Madsen and Rene Gangarosa had assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Much like Saturday's contest, Syracuse broke the ice in the second game of the series with the game's first goal under five minutes in. Savannah Rennie nudged one past Burke for her fifth goal of the year at 4:43.
Penn State outshot the Orange 12-5 for the period and had two first-period power-play chances but couldn't capitalize to tie the game before the break.
The second period was controlled for the most part by Syracuse, but the Nittany Lions put forth a solid defensive effort to keep the deficit at only one. The Orange outshot the Nittany Lions 15-8 in shots on goal for the period and held a 32-16 edge in shot attempts.
The Nittany Lions had their backs to the wall early in the frame when Rachel Weiss was called for a five-minute kneeing major, but Penn State thwarted the extended power play. Penn State had two more successful penalty kills in the second and Burke made all 15 saves.
Penn State finally broke through late in the third period on a nice play behind the net by Madsen. She put the puck front of the cage to Nelson who fired it to into the back of the net at 15:39 in the period to tie the game.
With 2:04 remaining, the Nittany Lions were called for a penalty and Syracuse immediately cashed in to retake the lead, needing only five seconds on the advantage before Jessica Digirolamo scored to retake the lead.
The Nittany Lions pulled Burke with a minute remaining for the extra skater, but Syracuse broke through the added pressure to put the game away with an empty net goal with 27 seconds left. It was scored by Abby Moloughney, who finished the game with a game-high three points.
GAME NOTES
- Shots on goal were even at 28-28 apiece. Syracuse had a 27-26 edge in the face-off circle.
- Madsen's assist gives her seven points in her last eight games. She trails only Katie McMillan (8) for the team lead in points.
- Nelson's goal was her first since the first game of the season against Holy Cross.
- Penn State had 13 blocked shots for the game with seven of them coming from Rene Gangarosa. Her assist on the Nelson goal was also her fifth of the season. She now has seven points, already surpassing her freshman-year total.
- The Nittany Lions head on the road next Friday and Saturday to play in the Vermont Windjammer Thanksgiving Classic. Penn State will play Vermont on Friday and then will play either Clarkson or Minnesota State Mankato Saturday depending on their result.