UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey team earned a much-needed CHA victory over Mercyhurst thanks to two goals by Natalie Heising (Wayzata, Minn.), including the game-winning score, in the Nittany Lions' 2-1 overtime victory over the Lakers Friday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.
Heising scored with just 1:42 remaining and an extra skater on the ice for Penn State (13-8-3, 6-2-1 CHA) to tie the game 1-1 before following up with the golden goal 16 seconds into overtime to win it.
"We're definitely excited for the win," said head coach Jeff Kampersal. "We would have liked to have gotten a little bit better in terms of taking care of business early, but the fact that we didn't cave and kept fighting, I think that was a positive."
Sophomore goaltender Josie Bothun (Wyoming, Minn.) made 22 stops for Penn State, including 11 in the third period.
Penn State now has a .722 win percentage in conference play at 6-2-1, which at the time of the game's conclusion moves the Nittany Lions into first place in the CHA.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite no goals in the first period, there was some good back-and-forth action between both teams in the period. Perhaps the biggest play of the period was a defensive play by Avery Mitchell (Pickering, Ontario), as she raced back into her defensive zone to break up a Mercyhurst breakaway from behind.
The second period featured another scoreless frame, but the Nittany Lions were in primary control of the period as they kept the puck in the offensive end. Penn State had 29 shot attempts to eight for the Lakers, and that included a 10-5 edge in shots on goal.
PSU had the first power play of the afternoon in the second period, and though PSU didn't convert, they had a handful of good scoring chances, but the Lakers did a nice job getting in shooting lanes to block shots.
Mercyhurst was able to turn the tables early in the third period with a quick goal to take the lead just 44 seconds in. Sydney Pedersen went coast-to-coast and split the Nittany Lion defense to score her second of the year and give the Lakers a 1-0 lead.
The outcome looked bleak for the Nittany Lions as the time continued to whittle away in the third period with no opportunity to tie developing. But then the Nittany Lions pulled Bothun with just over two minutes remaining, and the tying score came soon after.
Anna Promersberger (Fargo, N.D.) moved down the left wing and let a shot go through traffic that was batted around by Olivia Wallin (Oakville, Ontario) near the blue paint. The puck then sprung to Heising who directed it towards the goal and through Mercyhurst goaltender Ena Nystrom for the tying score with 1:42 remaining.
The game went to a 3-on-3 overtime to decide a winner and the Nittany Lions executed flawlessly to net the game winner. Kiara Zanon (Fairport, N.Y.) won the opening draw cleanly to Rene Gangarosa (Rochester, N.Y.) who spun off a Mercyhurst skater to create space and speed into the offensive end.
Gangarosa ripped a shot off the post that caromed right between the circles where Heising netted the game-winner on the open cage just 16 seconds into the extra frame.
GAME NOTES AND STATS
- Heising now has 18 goals this season, just one shy of her personal high and Penn State record 19 goal year back in 2017-18. She now has 15 game-winning goals for her career.
- Heising extended her current point streak to five games with nine points during the span (6G, 3A). Her 11 multipoint games this season sets a new Penn State high for a single-season.
- Penn State and Mercyhurst have had a very close series of late. In the past 19 games since Nov. 4, 2017, the series is now even at 6-6-7 with 10 overtime games in that span.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions and Lakers face off against tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 29, in the afternoon at 2 p.m. to conclude their series.