UNIVERSITY PARK Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team exploded for five unanswered goals to pick up its first win of the season, 5-1, over Holy Cross Friday afternoon in nonconference action at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State (1-3-1) had five different goal scorers find the back of the net in the second and third periods, including a stellar game from their line of Amy Dobson (Hamilton, Ontario), Rachel Weiss (Calgary, Alberta) and Alyssa Machado (Mississauga, Ontario), which combined for six points between them.
"Overall, it's awesome to get a win, our group definitely needed it," said head coach Jeff Kampersal. "It's good for them to have a victory song after a game."
After falling behind 1-0 early in the second period, Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) got PSU on the board quickly followed by the eventual game-winner by Machado.
Penn State piled on in the third period, with Weiss netting the next Penn State goal followed by Kiara Zanon (Fairport, N.Y.) and Mya Vaslet (Stittsville, Ontario).
"They've played pretty well all year," said Kampersal of the Nittany Lions. "In our first four games our record could be different, but there's definitely still things we need to improve on, like starting quicker…The other team has scored the first goal in four of our five games, which isn't ideal, but I do like how we respond to adversity, we usually come back pretty hard. Now it's capturing that hungry effort for 60 minutes but overall, I'm proud of them."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The scoring action didn't begin until the second period, but not before Penn State goaltender Josie Bothun (Wyoming, Minn.) made her presence known with a big time save on a two-on-one early in the second frame.
However, the Crusaders managed to get on the board first when Carle Magier tapped in the puck from just in front of the crease with 13:38 on the clock.
Penn State was also assessed a penalty on the play, forcing the Nittany Lions to skate shorthanded for the next two minutes. PSU was able to stop the power play and it ended up translating to the tying goal on the other end.
Kiara Zanon made a great play on the forecheck to force a Holy Cross turnover right in front of the net. Her shot was saved, but the puck went right to Wallin who scored on the open cage to tie the game with 8:49 left in the period.
A little over a minute later, the Nittany Lions went on the attack again to take the lead. Rachel Weiss and Amy Dobson had a great entry into the offensive zone with Dobson putting a chance on target. Machado swooped in for another rebound goal with 7:21 on the clock to give the Nittany Lions its first lead of the afternoon.
In the third period, the same line went to work again to double the Nittany Lions' lead to two. Dobson pried the puck free from the Holy Cross defense in the offensive end and pushed it to Machado moving down the left wing.
Machado went below the goal line and found Weiss wide open in the slot and the junior picked her corner to give Penn State the 3-1 lead 5:51 into the third period.
PSU struck again less than two minutes later on Zanon's first goal of the year. She intercepted a Crusader clearing attempt and circled behind the goal before coming out on the other side and roofing a wrist shot at the 7:19 mark in the period.
Penn state concluded the scoring with just a tick over 30 seconds remaining on a great individual effort by Vaslet. After collecting the puck at the goal line, she weaved her way past three Holy Cross defenders and buried a shot just to the right of the goal for her first collegiate goal.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- The multipoint game was Machado's first in her career, the second in Weiss's (Jan. 21, 2021 at Lindenwood) and fourth for Dobson. Zanon also picked up her 10th career multipoint game in just her 25th career game.
- Zanon led Penn State with six shots on goal, closely followed by Weiss (5) and Machado (4).
- Bothun finished the game with 19 saves, improving her season GAA to 1.59 and save percentage to .918.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions conclude their nonconference series with Holy Cross Saturday, October 9, at 5 pm.