No. 14 Penn State (1-1-0) fell to No. 3 Wisconsin (1-1-0) 9-1 on Friday night.

The flood gates opened in the final two periods after the Nittany Lions initially gained a 1-0 lead. They finished the game by giving up nine consecutive goals. The Nittany Lions tried all three of their goaltenders tonight and couldn’t find any answers.

Even after tonight’s loss, Penn State still split the series with the No. 3 team in the country after picking up a season-opening win last night.

How It Happened

Jeff Kampersal elected to start five different skaters than he did in last night’s win. Josie Bothun got the start in goal for the second consecutive night.

The Lines. pic.twitter.com/aJCpG1isvW

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) September 23, 2022

Penn State started off on the wrong foot by going down a player just over a minute into the first period, as Olivia Wallin was called for a trip. A couple of big saves from Bothun and a little help from the crossbar got the Nittany Lions out of trouble early.

Penn State had its first real opportunity of the game a couple of minutes later with a power play of its own. The Nittany Lions got a few shots on goal but nothing that caused serious danger.

The Badgers seemed to be finding a little bit of a rhythm after the midway point of the period, tallying a few shots on goal in a row.

Despite being outshot in the first period, the Nittany Lions managed to keep the game scoreless.

Penn State went on the power play to begin the second period. Captain Kiara Zanon drove toward the net and was rejected but was able to jam the rebound in to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead.

Wisconsin didn’t take long to answer. Lacey Eden found Casey O’Brien open on the back post to tie the game at one. The Badgers didn’t take their foot off the gas and continued to push to take the lead. They seemed to have complete control and hardly let Penn State out of the zone.

The Badgers were able to gain a 2-1 lead after Britta Curl found the back of the net at the 13:14 point of the second period. Jesse Compher was credited with the assist.

Just three minutes later, the Badgers found the back of the net again. This time Eden wrapped around the net and tucked it away. The Badgers recorded three goals and 13 consecutive shots in the final part of the period.

Wisconsin kept its momentum rolling and scored a goal 23 seconds into the third period to extend the lead to three. The Badgers’ dominance continued when Eden scored her second of the night. At this point, Kampersal elected to pull Bothun and put Katie DeSa in net.

Wisconsin scored goals on consecutive shots to push the lead to six. Compher added another to make it 8-1, and that was the end of DeSa’s night. DeSa conceded three goals in 2:41.

Kempersal put Annie Spring in goal, and she was the third goaltender to see the ice tonight.

The Badgers found the back of the net one final time with just over four minutes remaining. The Nittany Lions conceded nine total goals.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions really fell apart in the final two periods and conceded nine goals on 46 shots on net. Penn State better hope goaltending is not an issue after all three conceded goals in short periods of time.
• Penn State recorded eight shots on goal in the final 30 minutes of play. In the first 30 minutes, it was a completely different script, as the Nittany Lions were up 1-0 and had 15 shots on goal.
• Despite a poor showing tonight, the Nittany Lions still split the series with the No. 3 team in the country. Yes, tonight leaves a sour taste in their mouth, but it’s encouraging they were able to take one from a really good Badgers team.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will play Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 30