SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Penn State women's hockey team took the initial lead on the road but fell victim to a Syracuse comeback to fall 3-1 at Tennity Ice Pavilion Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions (10-10-6, 5-4-3 CHA) managed a series split after winning Friday's game. PSU scored the game's first goal in the second period on a breakaway by Mikayla Lantto.
The Orange (8-16-1, 7-4-1 CHA) rattled off two goals in less than a minute to take the lead in the second and capped the game with an empty-net goal.
Junior goaltender Chantal Burke made 21 saves for Penn State while her counterpart in net, Allison Small, stopped 39 shots for the Orange.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite no goals in the opening 20 minutes, there was plenty of action with Penn State leading the shots goal category 14-12. The Nittany Lions had a pair of power-play tries, with its best chance coming on a Rachel Weiss rebound try that was gloved last minute by Syracuse netminder Allison Small.
Penn State also killed a pair of Syracuse power plays in the first with a couple of nice saves made by Burke.
The second period got interesting quickly as the Orange went to a power play a little over four minutes into the frame. Penn State killed the penalty and Mikayla Lantto sprung free on a breakaway and went to the forehand for her second goal of the season at 6:40.
Here's a look at Mikayla Lantto's goal on her breakaway in the second period. #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/nbNN0KOnR0
— Penn State Women's Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) January 25, 2020
The Orange bounced back in a big way with a pair of goals just 52 seconds apart. Victoria Klimek score Syracuse's first goal of the weekend at 9:07, followed by another from Kelli Roswell to take the 2-1 lead at 9:59.
Penn State didn't go down without a fight as they would continue peppering Small with shots in the third period, but the junior goaltender for Syracuse made all 12 saves she needed to in the third period and finished with 39 for the game. Her best save came with 9:34 left when Anna Promersberger had a great chance on her backhand from between the circles.
Penn State had one last power-play chance in the period and spent about 2:00 with an extra skater, but Syracuse sealed the game with an empty-net score from Savannah Rennie with 18 seconds left.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State outshot Syracuse 40-24 for the game and had a 19-10 blocked shot edge.
- Burke's 22-save performance was her 16th start with 20-or-more saves this season.
- Like Friday night's tilt, neither team was able to convert on their power play chances. Penn State was 0-5 on its advantage while holding Syracuse scoreless on three chances.
- Shea Nelson (8) and Anna Promersberger (7) led all skaters in shots on goal for the game.
NEXT UP
Penn State will have a bye week next week before returning to Pegula Ice Arena Friday and Saturday Feb. 7-8 to take on Robert Morris.