ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Penn State women's hockey team scored twice unanswered to tie the game but ultimately fell 4-2 to RIT in CHA conference action Friday afternoon at Gene Polisseni Center.
After two quick scores by the Tigers, Penn State (10-12-7, 5-6-4 CHA) scored a power-play goal late in the first period and added another goal on the advantage halfway through the second period to tie the game at two.
RIT (10-16-3, 3-11-1 CHA) battled right back with goals late in the second and halfway through the third period to pull away from the Nittany Lions.
HOW IT HAPPENED
RIT took advantage of its first great scoring chance just under four minutes into the contest. Hunter Barnett scored on a two-on-one rush with an assist from Stella Haberman. Rachel Goff was awarded a secondary helper as the Tigers led 1-0 at the 3:50 mark.
PSU looked to have a golden opportunity to tie the score on a power play at the halfway point in the period, but a turnover created another 2-on-1 rush for RIT and Barnett scored shorthanded on an identical-looking play from Haberman to give RIT a 2-0 edge at the 10:00 mark in the first.
RIT nearly had a second shorthanded goal late in the period on another PSU power play but Chantal Burke made a great sliding save with her left pad to keep the puck out. The save loomed large as Penn State capitalized on the power play to bring the game back within one.
Morgan Rolph ripped a shot from the top of the right circle that sped through traffic and went in for the junior's first collegiate goal. It was assisted by Kate Rydland and Rachel Weiss at 18:47 in the first and cut the deficit to 2-1 at the first intermission.
Penn State stayed hot on the power play with its second goal on the advantage to tie the game in the second period. Brooke Madsen netted her eighth of the year on a rebound with 7:54 left in the second to tie the game 2-2 with assists from Katie McMillan and Mallory Uihlein.
The power-play goal trend continued with the next score, but this time it went RIT's way to help the Tigers retake the lead with 5:23 to play in the second. Ellie Larson's go-ahead marker was assisted by Goff and Barnett.
RIT re-extended its lead to two with a crippling fourth goal at the 9:12 mark in the third period. Goff scored her third point of the afternoon after scoring on a rebound opportunity with helpers from Barnett and Habermann. Barnett finished the afternoon with four points (2G, 2A) for RIT.
Penn State continued firing pucks on goal to try and cut into the lead and even pulled Chantal Burke with four minutes left trialing by two but did not manage a comeback in the third.
GAME NOTES
- Madsen's score in the second period on the power play gave her 10 career power-play goals. She's one of just five Nittany Lions to reach double-digit power-play goals as a Nittany Lion and ranks tied for fourth with Shannon Yoxheimer.
- Rolph's goal in the first period was scored in her 87th career game.
- Penn State went 2-4 on the power play, its first with multiple power play goals since Oct. 19, 2019 vs. RPI.
- Penn State had 32 shots on goal to RIT's 25 and won the face-off battle 25-24.
- RIT blocked 19 total shots and saw goaltender Terra Lanteigne make 30 saves. Chantal Burke stopped 21 for the Nittany Lions.
NEXT UP
Penn State finishes its regular-season series against RIT Saturday at noon.