UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 8 Penn State women's hockey team rallied from behind to take down Robert Morris 2-1 Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena to begin a series of massive implications atop the 2020-21 CHA standings.
Penn State (10-1-2, 10-1-2) tied its program-best unbeaten streak of seven games with the win thanks to goals by freshmen Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) in the second period and Kiara Zanon (Fairport, N.Y.) in the third to erase a 1-0 deficit.
Freshman goaltender Josie Bothun (Wyoming, Minn.) had another great performance in goal with several timely saves in a game that featured a stellar goaltender battle. Bothun made 27 saves, while her counterpart, Raygan Kirk, stopped 28 shots for Robert Morris (9-4-1, 9-4-1 CHA).
"I'm really proud of our team and really excited for them. That was a big game and a big win," said head coach Jeff Kampersal. "I though both goalies…really played great. Both goalies made some tremendous saves. The game could have been a little different in terms of the number of goals scored, but they both played great."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first period began with RMU controlling the puck and putting pressure on the Nittany Lions, but Penn State thwarted a power-play chance and then flipped the script with good offensive flow in last 10 minutes of first period. Both teams went to the first break scoreless.
Robert Morris ended the game's scoring drought early in the second period at the 3:58 mark. Gillian Thompson netted her first-career goal on a long shot from the point to give the Colonials the initial lead.
Penn State's season-long theme of resiliency appeared once again as the Nittany Lions tied the game on Wallin's score. Lyndie Lobdell (Aurora, Ill.) ripped a pass from behind her own net off the close right to Wallin at the opposing blue line all alone.
Wallin ripped her wrist shot off the far post and in to tie the game at 10:41 in the second.
Robert Morris had back-to-back golden scoring chances just seconds into the third period but Bothun made two great saves on the rush to keep the score even.
Those two saves proved crucial for Penn State as the Nittany Lions scored the go-ahead goal just a few minutes later. Izzy Heminger (Dublin, Ohio) let a shot rip from the point and the rebound bounced right to Natalie Heising (Wayzata, Minn.) who stuffed the puck off the pads of Kirk.
The second rebound popped right out to Zanon crashing from the right wing and she buried it, giving PSU the 2-1 edge with 13:15 to play.
Penn State played solid, disciplined hockey from then on out as they made it difficult for Robert Morris' potent scoring attack to generate scoring chances. Bothun needed just six saves in the final period to clinch the win.
The Colonials pulled Kirk with 1:31 remaining for the extra skater but didn't record any shots on goal as Penn State earned its 10th win of the season.
GAME STATS AND NOTES
- With the win over the second-place Colonials, Penn State leads the conference with 22 points and hold a three-point edge over RMU in the standings.
- Penn State is now 3-0 against the Colonials this season, meaning they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker should the final standings come down to a tie at the end of the regular season.
- Penn State reached 10 wins the quickest it ever has in program history, needing just 13 games to do it, shattering the previous mark of 20 games needed in 2014-15.
- Zanon continues to pace both the CHA and all rookies nationally with 17 points (7G, 10A). Her three game-winning goals rank her second nationally among all skaters.
- Wallin is tied for national lead among freshmen with Zanon at seven goals. She ranks seventh in the country scoring 0.64 goals per game (11 games).
- Bothun improved her season goals-against average to 1.52, slotting her into seventh among all goaltenders in the country.
- With his 46th win as Penn State head coach, Kampersal is now the all-time wins leader for Penn State women's hockey. He ranks 6th among all active division I coaches and seventh all-time with 373 wins.
NEXT UP
Penn State and Robert Morris complete their two-game series Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.