UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team enjoyed another great offensive performance to pick up the series sweep with a 6-2 victory over Holy Cross Saturday evening at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions (2-3-1) were led by senior forward Natalie Heising (Wayzata, Minn.) who picked up her 100th career point on a first-period assist and then added two goals for a three-point night.
She became the third Nittany Lion to reach the century mark in career points, joining Laura Bowman ('17) and Amy Petersen ('16).
Penn State's Julie Gough (Newcastle, Ontario), Kiara Zanon (Fairport, N.Y.), Izzy Heminger (Dublin, Ohio) and Lyndie Lobdell (Aurora, Ill.) chipped in two points each, while Penn State's other goal scorers included Carrie Byrnes (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Mallory Uihlein (Edina, Minn.).
The Nittany Lions and Holy Cross (0-4-0) had a penalty-filled contest with 18 combined penalties between both teams. Penn State ended up going 3-for-8 on the advantage with 16 shots on goal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Holy Cross came out firing right from the start with a breakaway attempt on net, but Josie Bothun (Wyoming, Minn.) was once again up to the task keep the Crusaders off the board.
Penn State countered with the game's first goal by Zanon. After Avery Mitchell (Pickering, Ontario) took a shot on goal from the point that was blocked, Heising slid the puck through the slot to an open Zanon in the right circle. Zanon aimed high to find the net and put PSU ahead 1-0 with 7:22 to play in the first.
The Nittany Lions carried a power-play chance into the second period and Gough capitalized 2:37 into the frame. She redirected Heminger's shot from the point for the Nittany Lion's first power-play goal of the season.
Heising followed up just under three minutes later after a great play by Lobdell. Lobdell pinched in at the offensive blue line to intercept a breakout attempt by the Crusaders and made a quick pass to Heising for the 1-on-1 chance against Holy Cross goaltender Jada Brenon.
Heising deked to her backhand for the goal to put Penn State in front 3-0 with 14:40 left in the second.
Four more goals were scored in the second period, two by each team. Holy Cross got on the board on Mackenzie King's score, but Penn State got the goal right back off Carrie Byrnes' stick. Gough made a slick pass through the middle of the ice to Byrnes on the left side where she netted her first of the season just past the halfway point in the stanza.
Carmen Elliott added another score for Holy Cross to pull the Crusaders back within two, but another Heising goal with just 47 seconds left in the period created a 5-2 edge for the Nittany Lions heading into the second break.
Annie Spring (Winnetka, Ill.) replaced Bothun in net in the third period and recorded 10 saves in the frame, including another breakaway save plus a handful of solid stops on the penalty kill.
The Nittany Lions held a comfortable three-goal lead throughout the period until Uihlein ripped a shot from the point with 37 seconds left to put the final score at 6-2.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- Heising's three-point night puts her at 102 career points, which moves her into second place just ahead of Petersen (101) and just two behind program-leading Bowman's 104-point total.
- Penn State outshot Holy Cross 40-25 for the game, including 20-6 in the high-scoring second period. Uihlein led all skaters with eight shots on target.
- Bothun finished the game with 13 saves to combine with Spring for 23 total saves. Holy Cross' Brenon had 34 stops.
NEXT UP
After a bye week, the Nittany Lions will have their first road series of the season at Brown Oct. 23-24.