Penn State women’s hockey (11-8-2) looked all out of sorts when it dropped a 6-1 loss to Cornell (6-7-1) Tuesday night at Pegula Ice Arena.

Senior forward Natalie Heising scored a lone goal for the Nittany Lions to begin the second period, but it wasn’t enough to get the team back on track in its first home game since November 6.

How It Happened

Things were quiet in the first period until Penn State’s Karley Garcia took a penalty about halfway through the opening sequence. Cornell did not capitalize, though, and couldn’t establish a steady offensive tempo thanks to a solid Penn State penalty kill backed by goaltender Josie Bothun. After a few minutes, Cornell’s Claudia Yu headed to the box on a two-minute hooking penalty. However, that wasn’t stopping the Big Red, as Cornell’s Izzy Daniel scored an unassisted shorthanded goal just under five minutes into the first period. 

Besides Cornell’s goal, both teams offensively had a very similar first period. Cornell posted seven shots on goal, while Penn State wound up with six.

In the second period, Penn State quickly opened up the scoring with an equalizer from Natalie Heising nearly three minutes in. The goal was assisted by Karley Garcia and Izzy Heminger.

After shots were exchanged, Penn State’s Lyndie Lobdell was sent to the penalty box for tripping at 7:53, but Cornell didn’t capitalize. However, Cornell scored another goal shortly after to take the lead again. This time, it was Alexa Davis for the Big Red. Cornell continued to pile on, with Yu scoring a goal with about six minutes to go in the period. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, it still wasn’t over. With less than a minute remaining in the second period, Cornell scored on a breakaway to take a commanding 4-1 lead. 

It didn’t take long for Penn State’s miserable evening to continue once the third period began. The Big Red scored back-to-back goals, one seemingly immediately after the other. Messier and Guilday scored the goals, respectively. The costly scores forced the Nittany Lions to pull Bothun from her post.

Although the game continued, Penn State’s will to win didn’t. The Nittany Lions sputtered to clinch a 6-1 loss in their first home game in two months.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to Rochester to face RIT in a two-game series on January 14 and 15.