UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team faces another tough road test against a conference opponent when it travels to Syracuse Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24 and 25.
Penn State is unbeaten in its last four outings have lost only one game dating back to Dec. 6. Last weekend, the Nittany Lions earned two conference points in back-to-back 1-1 ties at Mercyhurst.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Penn State (9-9-6, 4-3-3 CHA) vs. Syracuse (12-8-2, 6-2-0 CHA)
Dates: Friday, Jan. 24 | Saturday, Jan. 25
Times: 7 p.m. | 3 p.m.
Place: Mercyhurst Ice Center
Live Video: Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats: Games 1 & 2
Game Notes: Penn State Game Notes
TAKING ON THE CHAMPS...AGAIN
This series marks Penn State's second series of the season against the defending CHA Tournament champion Syracuse Orange. The two played each other at Pegula Ice Arena Nov. 23-24. The Nittany Lions tied game one 1-1 before dropping 3-1 in the second game to the Orange.
IMPORTANT NUMBERS
4 – Chantal Burke ranks fourth in the nation in goals-against average (1.50) and shutouts (5). She also ranks sixth in save percentage (.941).
1 – Natalie Heising needs one more goals to surpass Shannon Yoxheimer for second place on Penn State's all-time goal scoring list. She has 42 goals through 96 career games, including a team-best eight this season.
7 – Defensive partners Izzy Heminger (1G, 3A) and Rene Gangarosa (1G, 2A) have scored seven points combined in their last three games played.
8 – Penn State has eight wins this season when leading after two periods of play. PSU is also 7-1-1 when leading after the 1st period and 9-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.
LAST TIME OUT: MERCYHURST
Penn State picked up two hard-earned conference points after coming from behind in both of its games at Mercyhurst to tie the Lakers 1-1.
In the first game of the series, Mercyhurst took an early advantage on a power play goal just over a minute into the game. Penn State found its answer with 1:43 left in regulation on Rene Gangarosa's fourth goal of the season, also a power-play goal.
In game two, a similar script occurred with Mercyhurst scoring first, this time towards the end of the first period. Katie Rankin mustered PSU's game-tying goal in the second period and Chantal Burke made 32 saves in the second-straight 1-1 tie.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE ORANGE
This weekend's series will mark the 33rd and 34th meeting all-time between Syracuse and Penn State. Syracuse leads the all-time series 25-1-6.
The last four matchups between the two teams have included two ties, one one-goal game, and one two-goal game which included an empty-net goal.
Penn State and Syracuse last matched up Nov. 23-24 at Pegula Ice Arena. Similar to last weekend at Mercyhurst, Penn State climbed out of an early deficit to tie the game on a power-play goal by Brooke Madsen.
In game two, Penn State tied the game late in the third period on Shea Nelson's score, but a power-play goal with 2:04 remaining plus an empty-net goal with 27 seconds left sealed the win for Syracuse.
NEXT UP
Penn State has a bye week next weekend before hosting league-leading Robert Morris Feb. 7-8 at Pegula Ice Arena.
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.
