ERIE, Pennsylvania – The No. 8/8 Penn State women's hockey team scored two goals to force overtime in its regular-season finale but saw its 13-game unbeaten streak come to an end in a 3-2 overtime loss to Mercyhurst at Mercyhurst Ice Center Saturday afternoon.
After the Lakers (10-6-1, 10-6-1 CHA) sprung out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Nittany Lions (16-2-2, 16-2-2 CHA) cut into the lead with a second-period score by Julie Gough (Newcastle, Ontario) and followed up with the game-tying score by Lyndie Lobdell (Aurora, Ill.), her first-career goal, to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The loss for Penn State snaps its 13-game unbeaten streak and seven-game winning spurt, but the Nittany Lions will still be the number-one seed in next weekend's CHA Tournament and will have a bye to the semifinal round.
Freshman goaltender Josie Bothun stopped 27 shots in her first loss since Dec. 12 at Syracuse and finished the regular season with a 16-2-2 record.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercyhurst came out hot scoring just 55 seconds into the game off the stick of senior Alexa Vasko. The Lakers soon followed up with a second goal by Sarah Nelles at the 13:49 mark in the first to take a 2-0 advantage.
Bothun made a handful of tough saves in the first period to keep the Lakers from spreading the margin even more, and that helped Penn State cut into the lead in the second period. Jessica Adolfsson (Linkoping, Sweden) blasted a shot from the point after a great forecheck by Kiara Zanon (Fairport, N.Y.) created a turnover and Gough got her stick on the puck to redirect the shot into the cage 2:49 into the middle period.
Both teams forced a defensive struggle for the remainder of the second period to advance to the last period with the score 2-1 Mercyhurst. In the third, Penn State turned up the offensive pressure and netted the game-tying goal on Lobdell's first-career score at 5:38.
After Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) did a great job protecting the puck entering the offensive zone, she passed up to Lobdell at the blue line for the shot through traffic and the puck caught a piece of Mercyhurst goalie Ena Nystrom but trickled over the goal line to knot the game at two.
The Nittany Lions continued to generate quality scoring chances throughout the third period, with maybe its best chance being a two-on-one chance with Carrie Byrnes (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Rachel Weiss (Calgary, Alberta) that was stopped by Nystrom with just over two minutes left in regulation.
In the overtime period, Penn State had the puck in the offensive end but got caught on a bad line change to allow Emily Pinto a breakaway. She scored with 1:36 left in overtime to win it for the Lakers.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- With Lobdell's third-period score, all of Penn State's freshman skaters have now netted their first career goals this season. Penn State's freshman skaters have accounted for 44.2 percent of Penn State's goals this season (31-70).
- Gough finishes the regular season tied for the team lead with her 11 goals alongside Wallin. Both players ranked tied for sixth in the country in goals scored at the conclusion of Saturday's game.
- Penn State's record against teams with .500 or better records this season stands at 9-2-1.
NEXT UP
Penn State will be back on the ice next Friday, March 5, in the CHA Tournament at Erie Insurance Arena against the highest-remaining seeded team after the tournament's first round of action on Thursday, March 4.