No. 8 Women's Hockey Edged by Mercyhurst 3-2 in Series FinaleNo. 8 Women's Hockey Edged by Mercyhurst 3-2 in Series Finale

No. 8 Women's Hockey Edged by Mercyhurst 3-2 in Series Finale

Penn State celebrated their seven seniors following the game

Author Aaron Gaberman
Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 8 Penn State women’s ice hockey team (26-5-1, 17-1-0), fell to Mercyhurst (17-13-2, 12-5-1) 3-2 in the series finale at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

  • Mercyhurst opened the scoring with 17:52 left in the second period with a wraparound goal by Sofia Nuutinen off a feed from Vanessa Upson to put the Lakers ahead 1-0. 
  • Maddy Christian tied the game at 1-1 as she scored a short-handed breakaway goal from neutral ice with 13:34 left in the second period.
  • Then Tessa Janecke stole the puck from a Mercyhurst defender and slid the puck past the goalie on a breakaway to put Penn State ahead 2-1 with 9:07 left in the second period. 
  • With 15:32 left in the third period, Julia Schalin stole the puck from a Nittany Lion skater and fired a goal in the slot to tie the game at 2-2.
  • Mercyhurst sealed the victory with a goal by Upson as she tipped a backhanded shot in the slot past the Penn State netminder to put the Lakers ahead 3-2 with 8:07 left in the third period. 

GOALTENDERS

  • Junior goalie Katie DeSa tallied 16 saves on 19 shots attempted. Her record drops to 23-5-0 on the year. This is DeSa’s first loss in net since November 29. 
  • Mercyhurst goaltender Jordan Mattison stopped 33 shots on 35 attempts. Her record improves to 10-8-2 on the year. 

STATS AND NOTES

  • Penn State’s 17-0 conference win streak ended with the loss. 
  • This is Penn State’s first loss since November 29. 
  • This is the Nittany Lions’ first loss against Mercyhurst since November 17, 2023. 
  • Penn State dominated the faceoff circle for a second straight day, winning 39 on the day. '
  • Christian tallied her third short-handed goal of the year, which is tied for second all-time in program history. 
  • Janecke registered her 60th career goal, placing her third all-time in program history in career goals. 

UP NEXT

  • Penn State returns to action on Friday, February 14 when they begin their final regular season series at RIT. The puck drops at 3 p.m.

Get all of the latest updates on Penn State women's ice hockey by following @PennStateWHKY on Twitter, "liking" the Penn State Women's Ice Hockey page on Facebook and following @pennstatewhky on Instagram.