No. 6 Penn State Hosting No. 15 Mercyhurst for Conference Series

HISTORY

• This is the 58^th meeting of the two programs with Mercyhurst leading the series with a record of 26-22-9.
• Penn State has won eight of the last 10 meetings, which includes the last two AHA/CHA Tournament Championships.
• The Nittany Lions took the last meeting in last spring’s AHA Tournament Championship, winning 4-1.
• PSU has played Mercyhurst the second most of any program in the country. They have only faced RIT (66 games) more times.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS

• Mercyhurst is 3-3-0 thus far this season with wins over St. Lawrence and New Hampshire.
• They are currently ranked 15^th in both the USCHO.com and the USA Hockey polls and will be the second ranked team the Nittany Lions face this season.
• Julia Perjus leads the Lakers in points with six on five goals and one assist. She also leads the team in plus/minus (+5) and shots on goal (23).
• Magdalena Luggin has started five games in goal for Mercyhurst posting a 2-3 record, a 2.79 GAA and .916 save percentage. Tara Bach has started one, shutting out New Hampshire with 25 saves.
• Luggin is 0-2 versus the Nittany Lions in her career with seven goals against in two games.

PROGRAM RECORD WIN AT DELAWARE

• Last weekend the Nittany Lions swept Delaware, shutting out the Blue Hens in both games, outscoring them 12-0.
• In game two of the series, Penn State outshot Delaware 69-1, the least amount of shots allowed in a game in program history.
• 69 shots on goal are tied for second in Penn State history for most shots on goal in a single game and most since having 65 against Stonehill on October 26, 2024.

PENN STATE IN THE POLLS

• The Penn State Nittany Lions currently sit sixth in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls.
• It is the highest ranking the program has achieved in either poll in its history.

DEFENSE TO OFFENSE

• Penn State is currently in the top five for both scoring offense and defense categories as well as scoring margin.
• The Nittany Lions are scoring 4.67 goals per game while only allowing one goal a game.
• PSU also has only allowed 12.2 shots on goal per game, which is the lowest in the nation. Their 73 total shots allowed is third nationally and first among those who have played six games.
• Blue liners Danica Maynard and Leah Stecker are each in the top five on the Nittany Lions in points with Maynard leading all skaters with nine.
• The Nittany Lions are tied for the national lead in shorthanded goals with two.

DOMINANCE IN THE DOT

• The Nittany Lions are ranked third nationally in faceoff win percentage at 64 percent.
• Tessa Janecke has won 65 percent of her faceoffs pacing the Nittany Lions, she has won 56 total faceoffs which is third nationally among skaters who have played four games.
• Freshman Mikah Keller is eighth among rookie skaters nationally in faceoff wins with 44.

START FAST

• The Nittany Lions have outscored their opponents 9-1 in the first period through six games.
• They have also outshot their opponents in the first period 96-20.

AHA WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

• Matilde Fantin was named the AHA Forward of the Week while Danica Maynard as named the league’s Defenseman of the Week.
• Each player had a career weekend in Delaware, with nine points between the two.
• Fantin notched five points, with one assist coming in game one before scoring two goals and dishing two assists in game two.
• Maynard scored all four of her points in game two, scoring her first collegiate goal before adding another and two assists.
• It was the third multi-point game of the season for Maynard and the first for Fantin.
• Maynard now leads the Nittany Lions in points and sits sixth nationally in the same category. She is tied for the national lead among defenders.
• She is also the first Penn State defenseman to win the weekly award as the freshman.