No. 12 Penn State Women’s Hockey Bests Robert Morris 5-0
Penn State women’s hockey (12-3, 5-0 AHA) defeated Robert Morris (5-9-1, 0-4-1 AHA) 5-0 in the opening game of a two-game home series.
Maddy Christian notched two goals, while Stella Retrum, Brianna Brooks, and Tessa Janecke also got on the scoreboard. Katie DeSa turned in another stellar performance, recording a 20-save shutout for her second of the season and ninth win on the campaign.
How It Happened
Early offensive zone pressure from the Nittany Lions led to an early goal, as Retrum fired a wrist shot from the left circle over the blocker of Robert Morris goaltender Lucy Phillips. Kendall Butze and Karley Garcia picked up the helpers to put Penn State ahead 1-0 at 2:34.
Penn State continued to dominate play as the first period progressed, and Christian doubled the Nittany Lions’ lead at 7:19. The forward ripped a shot from the slot off the left post and into the back of the net for her 10th goal of the season. Brianna Brooks picked up the lone assist.
Already leading by two goals, Penn State was sent on its first power play of the afternoon with Madison Primeau heading to the box for tripping Nicole Hall at 8:50. The lone scoring chance of the power play came off the stick of Brooks, who rushed to the front of the net and fired a backhanded shot that was kicked away by Phillips.
Shortly after Robert Morris registered its first shot on goal of the afternoon over 12 minutes into the period, a pair of penalties were handed out to the Colonials and the Nittany Lions. Primeau and Grace Tullock sat for tripping, which led to two minutes of four-on-four hockey. No one could take advantage of the open ice, however, and the teams returned to full strength.
With under four minutes remaining in the opening period, Brooks struck again for Penn State. The forward deflected home a rebound in front of the net off a shot from Grace Outwater. The goal was her fourth of the season.
Just one and a half minutes after the Brooks goal, Janecke was sent to the box for hooking, and Penn State headed to the penalty kill for the first time. Robert Morris could not solve the Nittany Lions penalty kill before the end of the period, and the teams headed to the locker room with 14 seconds remaining on the Janecke penalty.
Penn State swiftly killed the remaining penalty to Janecke at the start of the second period, and the Nittany Lions returned to full strength.
While Penn State was not as dominant as it was to start the middle period of play compared to the first, the Nittany Lions continued to control the puck in their offensive zone and generated a few solid scoring chances. Phillips made a nice save against Janecke on a tough shot from the slot to keep the Colonials within three.
The Nittany Lions returned to the penalty kill after Lyndie Lobdell was sent to the box for hooking at 10:17. Just 27 seconds into the penalty to Lobdell, Christian cleaned up a rebound in the slot to score a shorthanded goal that put Penn State ahead by four. Outwater had the lone assist on Christian’s second goal of the contest.
With 28 seconds remaining on its advantage, Primeau of Robert Morris took a tripping penalty that sent the teams to four-on-four hockey before an abbreviated Penn State power play. Like Robert Morris on its power play, Penn State’s advantage was cut short after Alyssa Machado took an interference penalty at 13:24.
After 25 seconds of further four-on-four hockey, the Colonials went on their abbreviated power play. Nothing came of it, however, as Penn State delivered another strong penalty kill highlighted by a sliding DeSa save on a Veronica Bac one-timer.
The theme of the second period was penalties, and Robert Morris was called for another after its power play expired. Thalia D’Elia was sent to the box for hooking at 16:08, which sent the Nittany Lions back to the skater advantage. This time, Penn State cashed in courtesy of Janecke, who was parked below the faceoff circle and fired a one-timer past Phillips to extend the Nittany Lions’ lead to five.
Another penalty was called with Robert Morris headed to the power play after Lobdell took a slashing penalty with one minute left in the period. Penn State escaped the period without surrendering a goal and entered the third period on the kill for another minute.
Penn State killed the remaining penalty to Lobdell and returned to full strength as the Nittany Lions immediately went on the attack. Katelyn Roberts had a nice scoring chance in front of the net in the opening minutes of the final period, but a good defensive play from the stick of the Robert Morris defender thwarted the opportunity.
The Nittany Lions continued to dominate in the middle portion of the period, as Robert Morris continued to have no answers for the high-powered Penn State offense.
With under six minutes remaining in the game, Robert Morris issued a coach’s challenge alleging head contact was made with one of its players. After an official review, the referees determined there no head contact was made, and play continued at five-on-five.
After the review, much of the remaining minutes of the game were spent in the neutral zone as Penn State locked down its victory. Soon enough, the final horn sounded, and Penn State headed back to the locker room with a resounding victory.
Takeaways
- Adding to her stellar start to the season, Christian added a pair of goals in the win against the Colonials. The forward has an AHA-leading 11 goals on the season and ranks second on the Nittany Lions in points with 16.
- DeSa secured her second shutout of the season with her 20-save performance. Now up to nine wins on the season, DeSa leads the AHA in both wins and save percentage.
- Penn State is off to a dominant start in conference play, and this afternoon was no different. The Nittany Lions outshot Robert Morris 43-20 en route to extending their lead atop the conference to three points.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will return to Pegula Ice Arena for game two of their weekend series against Robert Morris at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 23. For those who cannot attend, the game will be streamed on BTN+.
Your ad blocker is on.
Please choose an option below.
Purchase a Subscription!
About the Author
Staff Predictions: No. 4 Penn State vs. Minnesota
The last time Penn State visited Minnesota was in 2019 when the No. 17 Golden Gophers upset the No. 4 Nittany Lions 31-26.
‘I’m Fired Up’: Mike Rhoades Sounds Off On Penn State Hoops’ Class Of 2025 Signees
This was the highest-ranked class in Penn State history.
‘It’s Tough To Find That Fine Line’: Penn State Men’s Hockey Balancing Tough Play & Costly Penalties
As the penalties rack up for the Nittany Lions, they work to find the line between playing “Penn State tough” and giving up minutes on the ice.