No. 15 Penn State Women’s Hockey team (3-6-1) went on the road and swept its conference rival Syracuse (3-7-1) in its CHA opening series. With the sweep, the Nittany Lions opened conference play 2-0.

It was a dominant two games from the Nittany Lions as they dominated Syracuse all over the ice. While a two-goal victory in game one may not seem dominant, Syracuse was never actually in the game. In this game, they outshot the Orange 43-22 and dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 41 of the 68 face-offs in the contest.

Game two was more of the same as the Nittany Lions came out on top with a dominant 6-2 victory where they outshot Syracuse 41-28.

Game One

Despite the first period ending 0-0, the Nittany Lions dominated possession for the entirety of the period. Consistently spending time in the Syracuse end of the ice, the Nittany Lions outshot the Orange 16-5 in the period.

The dominance by the Nittany Lions continued into the second period, as the team finally broke through for the game’s first goal at 3:11 of the period. Tessa Janecke and Julie Gough were sprung on a two-on-one, and it was Gough who buried a nice pass from Janecke to get the Nittany Lions on the board. Carrie Byrnes picked up the secondary assist on the goal.

It was more of the same after the opening goal for the Nittany Lions as they continued to suffocate Syracuse in its defensive zone and fired shot after shot at goalie Allie Kelley. After periods of pressure, Nittany Lions defender Leah Stecker took a pass from forward Maeve Connolly and fired a shot from the point that snuck past Kelley to put the team up 2-0. Forward Alyssa Machado had the secondary assist on the Stecker goal.

Syracuse was awarded the first power play of the game at 15:30 of the second period, as Machado received a two-minute minor for body checking. Syracuse was able to make the Nittany Lions penalty kill unit and goalie Josie Bothun work, but they held strong and killed it off. Bothun made three saves on the penalty kill.

In the opening minutes of the third period, it looked as if the Nittany Lions’ dominance would continue, but Syracuse finally managed to get on the board to make it a 2-1 game at 2:37 of the period. Defender Alexandra Weiss solved Bothun on the unassisted effort.

The Nittany Lions were awarded their first power play of the game at 4:41. Syracuse defender Maya D’Arcy was sent to the box for a high sticking call. The power play only lasted for one minute as Nittany Lions defender Maggie MacEachern was whistled for interference, leading to 54 seconds of four-on-four play before an abbreviated Syracuse power play.

Neither team was able to get anything going before the Syracuse power play, and it was here where the Nittany Lions were able to expand their lead. Defender Kendall Butze made it a 3-1 game with her short-handed goal, she cleaned up a rebound off of a shot from Brianna Brooks in what would be the game-winning goal.

Syracuse scored a goal late to make it 3-2 with a two-man advantage from a power play and having an extra attacker on for Kelley. Darci Johal scored the goal and was assisted by Rachel Teslak. The Nittany Lions ended any last-minute heroics from Syracuse as Butze got her second goal of the game on an empty netter at 19:44.

Game Two

It was an eventful first period for the two teams, they stood even with nine shots each and five total penalties were handed out.

After feeling each other out and trading shots for the first eight minutes of the period, the Nittany Lions were awarded the first power play of the game. Johal was sent to the box for a tripping penalty. In a repeat of their only power play of game one, the Nittany Lions were unable to get much of anything going, managing just one shot with the man advantage.

Machado took a slashing penalty 11 minutes through the period, sending Syracuse to the man advantage for the first time in the contest. Syracuse got some good looks, forcing Bothun to make three saves but her and the Nittany Lions penalty kill held and killed off the Machado penalty.

Just 42 seconds after killing off the first Syracuse power play 14 minutes through the period, the Nittany Lions took another penalty to once again send Syracuse to the man advantage. Brooks was whistled for tripping.

Much like the first power play for Syracuse, it made the Nittany Lions penalty kill work. The Orange threatened with two shots on goal, but Bothun and the Nittany Lions were unfazed and once again killed the penalty.

The fourth penalty of the period was handed to Syracuse forward Haley Trudeau for tripping, sending the Nittany Lions to the power play for the second time of the period. The penalty kill woes continued for the Nittany Lions as they once again only managed one shot on their power play and were held without a goal.

Just before the end of the period, the Nittany Lions broke through for the game’s first goal. Much like the opening goal in game one of this series, Gough and Janecke combined to put the Nittany Lions up 1-0. Butze added to her strong series with a secondary assist.

Six seconds after the goal, Syracuse was awarded a power play that would carry over into the next period.

Syracuse was unable to find any momentum with the power play to start the second period, leaving the Nittany Lions still up 1-0 after the Orange power play. Shortly after however, Syracuse knotted the game at one apiece with a goal from forward Sarah Thompson.

The Nittany Lions responded to the Syracuse goal with a flurry of shots at Kelley and were awarded their third power play of the game five minutes through. Syracuse forward Tatum White was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. While they did not score on the power play, the Nittany Lions fired three shots at Kelley.

After securing momentum from a solid power play, the Nittany Lions’ effort culminated with a goal nine minutes through the period to put them up 2-1. Forward Mya Vaslet slid past a Syracuse defender with a nice deke and backhanded a shot past Kelley on the goal. Connolly and MacEachern had the assists.

In the final 10 minutes, both teams had opportunities on the power play but were unable to convert, keeping the Nittany Lions lead at 2-1.

The Nittany Lions’ third period was as dominant of a period as you can ask for from a hockey team. After killing off the remainder of a Syracuse power play, the Nittany Lions added to their lead at 1:07 with a goal from Maddy Christian. She got into the Syracuse goal all alone and fired a written shot past Kelley to expand the Nittany Lions’ lead to 3-1.

Just over two minutes later the Nittany Lions added another goal to give the team a 4-1 lead. Defender Karly Garcia beat Kelley on a shot from the point with the assists going to defender Alva Johnsson and defender Lyndie Lobdell.

Offensive zone dominance continued after the two goals for the Nittany Lions, culminating with yet another goal to make it a 5-1 game. Janecke was the goal scorer as she added to her impressive stat line for the road trip. On a partial two-on-one, forward Stella Retrum made a nice cross-crease pass to Janecke who buried the puck past Kelley.

In need of an answer, Syracuse was awarded a power play more than 13 minutes through the period, as Machado was sent to the box for hooking. The Orange finally broke through for a power play goal to slow some on the Nittany Lions momentum on a shot by Teslak to make the game 5-2.

With just four seconds left in the game, Retrum added a goal for the Nittany Lions to make it a 6-2 game, and this is what the final score would be. Shots in Penn State’s favor 41-28 in what was yet another dominant performance from the Nittany Lions. Over the two games, Syracuse was outshot 84-50.

Takeaways

• This was a dominant weekend for the Nittany Lions, as the team showed its potential when everything was clicking for them. They will need more performances like these to fulfill their postseason aspirations.
• Janecke added a goal and two assists to her season total and cemented her place as the team’s leading forward.
• Bothun continues to give the Nittany Lions solid efforts night in and night out, turning in a .913 save percentage for the weekend.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to Lindenwood next weekend for another two-game set. The first matchup is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, November 3.