Penn State women’s hockey (5-6-1, 4-0 CHA) completely dominated Lindenwood (4-8, 1-3-0 CHA) and swept both games with 12 total goals in its weekend series. Notable goals came from Alyssa Machado, Maggie MacEachern, and Stella Retrum, while Mya Vaslet completed a hat trick in game two.

How It Happened

Game One

Penn State came out strong while on the road against Lindenwood. Immediately winning the face-off, Penn State already established its first shot on goal within a minute into the first period. The Nittany Lions were strong right out of the gates and outshot the Lions 3-0 five minutes into the first period.

Katelyn Roberts converted Penn State’s first goal of the night, striking first after a dominating start to the game.

Late into the first period, Lindenwood’s Sarah Davies was called for a hooking call, giving Penn State the chance to continue its hot start. Lyndie Lobdell capitalized on the chance and gave Penn State a 2-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

With a slow start to the second period, Lindenwood cut the deficit in half with a goal by Morgan Netizke. This was the only goal in the second period.

Penn State opened the third period with another dominant start. Nittany Lion Julie Gough scored a power-play goal only five minutes in.

14:02 | 3rd: JULIE!!! Julie Gough scores Penn State's second PP goal of the night! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/K4XZsSOBJl

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) November 4, 2023

Alyssa Machado scored the final goal for the Nittany Lions late into the third period, making the lead 4-1.

In one final effort to cut the lead in half, Lindenwood scored with 43 seconds left. Penn State took the game 4-2 and planned to face a vengeful Lindenwood team the next day.

Game Two

The Lidenwood Lions came off strong in the first period, holding Penn State even with face-offs and shots. Penn State came out stronger with a goal early into the first period, giving the Lions a taste of the game last night. The goal was scored by Mya Vaslet with assists by Kendall Butze and Alyssa Machado.

Penn State continued its strong campaign, increasing its shots on goal to six.

The Nittany Lions were then given the chance to extend their lead in a power play against Lindenwood for hooking. While the power play wasn’t successful for Penn State, it was just moments before it found its groove.

Right after Lindenwood was back to even strength, Alva Johnsson scored with an assist by Tessa Janecke.

8:32 | 1st: ALVA!!! Johnsson scores her first goal as a Nittany Lion to put Penn State ahead 2-0! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/ebyemmr21V

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) November 4, 2023

With less than 10 minutes into game two, Penn State was up two goals.

The rest of the first period was scoreless, and Penn State dominated the shots on goal.

Lindenwood came out ready and scored early. It was now only down two goals with hopes of completing a comeback.

Penn State quickly responded, and Leah Stecker extended the lead to 3-1. She was assisted by MacEachern and Retrum.

Even after creating a three-goal lead, Penn State continued its firepower game, shooting five shots before Retrum found the back of the net to bring the score to 4-1.

Lindenwood went on the power play after a boarding call on Penn State. It were unsuccessful, but as soon as the power play ended, the Lions cut the game in half to 4-2.

Penn State quickly rebounded with a goal by MacEachern 11 minutes into the period. The score was 5-2.

Only four minutes later, Vaslet scored another high-power attack to extend the lead to four.

The rest of the second period remained scoreless.

The third period started out the same for the Nittany Lions, and the Lindenwood Lions couldn’t get anything going offensively.

The Lions tried to complete a comeback but didn’t score for the rest of period.

Meanwhile, Penn State scored one more time to finish its impressive outing. Vaslet completed her hat trick to jump to 7-2, and Lexi Bedier closed the scoring to secure an 8-2 victory.

Takeaways

• The Nittany Lions continue their strong offensive game. It has scored 22 goals in the past four games.
• The Penn State defense is a force to be reckoned with and has given up just eight goals in four games in contrast to its 22 scored. Josie Bothun led the charge from between the pipes and recorded 23 saves in the opening game of the series.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions travel to Erie, Pennsylvania, to take on Mercyhurst on November 17 and 18. Puck drop against the Lakers is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, November 17, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 18. Both matchups can be streamed on FloSports.