PROVIDENCE R.I. – The Penn State women's hockey team tied its first matchup against Brown in its two-game weekend set 2-2 Saturday afternoon at Meehan Auditorium.
The Nittany Lions (2-3-2) had goals scored by Julie Gough (Newcastle, Ontario) and Natalie Heising (Wayzata, Minn.) and goaltender Josie Bothun (Wyoming, Minn.) stopped 26 shots in net.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The biggest highlight of the first period was a great save by Bothun with her left pad on a great scoring chance for Brown (0-0-1) just past the midway point of a scoreless frame.
Penn State broke the ice late in the second period with 1:31 left on the clock. Karley Garcia (Roseville, Calif.) maneuvered through the offensive zone and passed to Gough in the left slot.
Gough pivoted and ripped a wrist shot the far upper corner of the net to put Penn State in front 1-0.
Bothun and the Penn State defense had an impressive scrambling sequence to keep Brown off the board just over five minutes into the third period. The sophomore goalie alertly stopped three grade "A" scoring chances in a matter of a couple of seconds to hold the one-goal advantage.
Brown would go to the power play shortly after, however, and capitalized off the stick of Anna Hurd 7:27 into the period, tying the game 1-1.
The Nittany Lions bounced right back just two shifts later thanks to Heising's team-leading fifth goal of the season. After Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) helped gain possession on Kiara Zanon's (Fairport, N.Y.) faceoff win, Zanon shuffled the puck to Heising between the circles Her shot bounced off a Brown defender and into the net to give PSU the one-goal lead right back.
Brown's big chance to tie came late in the third with time winding down. The Bears had pulled their goaltender Hayley Klickzko with 1:04 remaining, and the move worked for Brown as Hurd scored her second of the game with 56 second remaining to tie the game once again and send the contest to overtime.
Bothun saved the game for Penn State thanks to a fantastic stop on a Bears' two-on-one rush early in the three-on-three period. With a handful of shots from both teams that didn't find their mark, time expired in the overtime to close the final score at a 2-2 draw.
NEXT UP
Penn State and Brown finish their nonconference series tomorrow afternoon, Sunday Oct. 24, at 2 p.m.
