UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – The Penn State women's hockey team starts a stretch of four-straight games against conference foe Syracuse with a two-game homestand against the Orange Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5-6, at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Syracuse Orange (1-2-0, 1-0-0 CHA) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0-0, 2-0-0 CHA)
Dates: Saturday, Dec. 5 | Sunday, Dec. 6
Times: 2:00 PM | 2:00 PM
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Live Video on BTN-Plus: Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats: Games 1 & 2
Game Notes: 2020-21 Game Notes
SCOUTING THE ORANGE
Syracuse is 1-2-0 this season with its most recent game being a 7-1 conference win over RIT Nov. 27 at home. The Orange also had two close losses to now #5/6 Colgate in a home-and-home set to start the year Nov. 20-21.
The Orange have had eight different goal scorers to start the season, led by freshman Rayla Clemons (2G, 2A) and junior Lauren Bellefontaine (1G, 3A). Senior goaltender Allison Small has all three starts under her belt with a 2.35 GAA and .914 save percentage.
LAST TIME OUT: LINDENWOOD NOV. 29-30
Penn State picked up two wins to begin its season for the first time in program history with a conference sweep of Lindenwood last Sunday and Monday at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions blanked Lindenwood in game one 3-0 thanks to freshman goaltender Josie Bothun's 23-save shutout in her first career start. Fellow freshman Carrie Byrnes scored her first career goal in the first period. Senior Natalie Heising added two more scores.
In game two, the Nttany Lions used both a quick start on Heising's goal 39 seconds into the game and a three-goal second period to win 4-1. Juniors Amy Dobson and Jessica Adolfsson netted power-play goals and freshman Kiara Zanon scored her first career goal in the second frame.
HEISING RISING
Senior forward Natalie Heising became the second Nittany Lion to score 50 career goals after her first-period score Nov. 30 against Lindenwood. (Laura Bowman, '17, 61 goals).
Heising surpassed Shannon Yoxheimer ('16) for third on the all-time PSU scoring list with her 81st point Nov. 30. Among Penn State players with at least 50 career games played, she ranks first in program history with 0.75 points per game (81 pts, 108 GP) and goals per game at 0.46 (50G).
ELECTRIC FRESHMEN SKATERS
Penn State has already seen the impact its freshmen class can bring to the team in 2020-21 with five different freshmen recording their first career points Nov. 29-30.
Forward Kiara Zanon is off to a hot start with three points, including her first career goal Nov. 30. She leads the Nittany Lions with 14 shots on goal and a +3 rating.
Forward Carrie Byrnes scored PSU's first goal of the season assisted by two more freshmen, Jess Ciarrocchi and Maeve Connolly.
Defender Lyndie Lobdell notched two assists Nov. 30 for her first career point and first career multipoint game.
COOL CALM AND COLLECTED
Freshman goaltender Josie Bothun had a memorable first weekend for the Blue & White, picking up wins in both games and recording her first career shutout in her first ever start.
Bothun became the first Nittany Lion ever to both win her first start and post a shutout in her first start.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions head to Syracuse to play two more games against the Orange Dec. 11-12 at Tennity Ice Pavilion.
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.
