UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 9/10 Penn State women's hockey team roared back from two goals down in the second period to tie the St. Lawrence Saints 2-2 Friday evening at Pegula Ice Arena.
After the Saints (1-0-1) netted goals early in the first and second periods to take a 2-0 lead, found its rhythm when freshman defender Karley Garcia (Roseville, Calif.) scored Penn State's (0-1-1) goal of the season in the second period.
Senior forward Natalie Heising (Wayzata, Minn) later scored early in the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
"I thought we started off decently but not as hungry as we were in the second and third," said head coach Jeff Kampersal. "We got to the third period, St. Lawrence was obviously the traveling team and they were wearing down at that point. So that's what should have happened naturally. But I also think we had a little bit more grit to our game in the second and third and that's kind of how we played all of last year."
HOW IT HAPPENED
St. Lawrence scored first 5:11 into the contest on a long-range shot by Rachel Teslak. She ripped a shot through traffic from the top of the right circle with assists from Abby Hustler and Aly McLeod.
The Saints doubled their lead early in the second period on a redirect by Rachel Bjorgan, but the Nittany Lions managed to bounce shortly after the second Saints' score.
Garcia scooped a loose puck at the point and fired a shot on goal where Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) provided a great screen in front of the net. Garcia's shot snuck its way through the traffic for her first career score and slashed the Saint's lead in half with 14:44 to play in the second period.
The Nittany Lions kept their foot on the gas with the game-tying goal early in the third period thanks to Heising. She intercepted a St. Lawrence clearing attempt between the circles and ripped a wrist shot into the cage to knot the score with 15:53 remaining.
Penn State had the ice tilted towards the offensive end for the entire third period, outshooting the Saints 17-3. Their best chance to take the lead came in the final 2:04 of regulation after St. Lawrence was caught with too many skaters on the ice.
However, the Nittany Lions couldn't convert on the resulting power play and the game went to overtime. In a similar fashion, a late penalty on the Saints with 1:01 left the extra frame gave PSU a golden chance at a game winner with a 4-on-3 advantage.
Heising had a couple tries on net on the power play, but the needed bounces just didn't go the Nittany Lions way, ending the game in a tie.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- Heising's goal puts her at 98 career points. She is two shy of joining Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen in the Penn State 100-career point club and only six points shy of passing Bowman as the program's all-time leading scorer.
- Penn State outshot St. Lawrence 41-18 for the game and fired 11 shots on the power play. St. Lawrence also blocked 21 shots.
- Josie Bothun (Wyoming, Minn.) stopped 16 shots in the game, including two big saves in the overtime period. Her counterpart, Lucy Morgan, made 39 saves for the Saints.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions are back on home ice to host Boston College in a two-game series next Thusday and Friday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Both games begin at 7 p.m.