In Penn State women’s hockey’s season-opening series against No. 13 Northeastern, the Nittany Lions were assessed nine penalties throughout the two-game matchup.

Last season, Penn State averaged a little over three penalties a game and was ranked fifth in penalties in the AHA conference per game.

Head coach Jeff Kampersal expressed the opening series is not the standard for the team and measures will be taken to fix the early-season issue.

“We need to be more disciplined,” Kampersal said. “We will be skating for penalties at practice.”

In the opening game against the Huskies, six Penn State players were responsible for the penalties. Northeastern took the lead with a power-play goal when Lyndie Lobdell took a cross-checking penalty to the box, giving the opposition a two-player advantage halfway through the second period.

However, Kampersal remained hopeful for the rest of the series and for improving the next game.

“We need to keep it simple. [We need to] get the puck to the net and take away the goalie’s eyes,” Kampersal said.

Captain Tessa Janecke remained hopeful, too, carrying last season’s lessons into the season ahead.

“I think we realized our potential at the end of the season last year,” Janecke said. “I think leaning on those returners and getting the freshmen involved will really help us.”

Game two of the series was an improvement on the penalty front. The Nittany Lions took three penalties, half of what the team was assessed the night before.

Kampersal was still unsatisfied.

“It was obviously a lot better than last night, but I felt like the officials let a little bit more go,” Kampersal said. “It could still be better.”

In other improvements, special teams stepped up for the Nittany Lions, especially after giving up a game-winning goal in the previous game while on the penalty kill.

On the penalty kill, sophomore forward Maddy Christian broke away while receiving a sliding puck from Janecke to put Penn State in the lead.

“It was just something that happened in play,” Christian said. “Karolina [Hengelmüller] dished the puck to me, and I knew I had time with it.”

Christian’s goal was the game-winning point to secure the team’s first win of the season which she credited to remaining calm throughout the series.

Christian and the rest of the Nittany Lions will travel to Storrs, Connecticut, to compete against UConn at 3 p.m. on Friday, October 4. Kampersal emphasized the team’s mindset heading out on the road, especially with these early non-conference games.

“They took three points from us last year,” Kampersal said. “We want to go in there and continue to win these non-league games.”