No. 9 Penn State Women’s Hockey Sweeps Syracuse

No. 9 Penn State women’s hockey (22-4-1, 13-0 AHA) swept Syracuse (7-19-0, 5-7 AHA) to remain undefeated in conference play.
In game one, Katelyn Roberts was the overtime hero after a scoreless game. In game two, the offense found its groove to breeze past the Orange. Katie DeSa did not allow a single goal on the entire weekend.
Game One
Penn State won the faceoff to start the game. Katelyn Roberts immediately took a shot toward the net but met Allie Kelley’s glove.
The Nittany Lions kept up the intensity, firing shots toward Kelley. She stood on her head early on in the game, not letting Penn State score.
The momentum could not swing toward the Orange with the Nittany Lions berating Kelley with shots. Tessa Janecke, Grace Outwater, and Kendall Butze could not get past the Syracuse defenders along with Kelley.
Outwater took a shot from the middle but it went wide of the net. Maddy Christian came close to the back of the net but was stopped by Kelley. Neither team could get an offense going midway through the first period.
Syracuse was assessed for a tripping penalty, putting Penn State on the power play for the first time. Alyssa Machado took a shot but it bounced off the pipe, allowing the Orange to clear the puck. The power play was quiet for the Nittany Lions.
Moments after the power play ended, Janecke took a penalty for bodychecking. Within 45 seconds, four-on-four hockey started when Syracuse took a hooking penalty. Both teams could not generate any offense, letting the puck bounce back between teams.
The second period started with a Syracuse power play when Butze was called roughing. Penn State killed the power play after a quiet two minutes from the Orange.
Brianna Brooks and Christian both shot toward Kelley but were stopped by Syracuse defenders. Momentum swung toward the Orange when Katie DeSa saw some action. DeSa blocked every shot that came toward her to keep the game scoreless.
With less than 10 minutes in the second period, Penn State continued to shoot toward Kelley but could not find the back of the net. The Nittany Lions kept the puck out of their zone but still struggled to generate any offense.
Taya MacDonald took an interference penalty with two minutes left on the clock. The Penn State defense was on top of Syracuse, not allowing the Orange a chance in the offensive zone.
Both teams were hungry to score to start the third period. Stella Retrum tried going for the net but was stopped by an Orange defender. The Syracuse offense started to get going but was quickly shut down by the Nittany Lion defense.
It was a quiet third period for both teams. Grace Tullock tried multiple times but was stopped by Kelley once again. The puck stayed in the Syracuse zone for numerous minutes. However, the Nittany Lion offense could not produce shots that went in.
Syracuse started to skate toward DeSa but time ran down bringing the game to overtime.
The overtime period belonged to Penn State as DeSa never saw a shot from the Orange. With two minutes left in the period, Roberts took the puck herself to score the winning and only goal of the night.
Game Two
Penn State started off strong by immediately shooting toward Kelley. Tullcok skated in front of the net but couldn’t hang onto the puck.
The puck continued to bounce between teams, neither able to get a grip on their shots. Penn State shot toward Kelley but still could not get a good enough shot off to score.
Janecke took a penalty for tripping, putting the Orange on the power play. Penn State took control of the puck and did not let the Orange set up. Short-handed, Outwater shot past Kelley to strike first for the Nittany Lions.
The Orange flipped the switch and started to attack DeSa with shots. The Penn State defense blocked the shots to keep the lead.
Syracuse took a penalty to put Penn State on the power play. Leah Stecker missed the net to put the only shot on goal for the Nittany Lions on the advantage. Moments after, Syracuse went on the power play after Karley Garcia took an interference penalty to end the first period.
The second period started with Syracuse on the power play. Penn State killed the advantage, bringing momentum back to the Nittany Lions.
As soon as the power play ended, Janecke scored for Penn State to extend the lead to 2-0 three minutes into the second frame. She was now the all-time points leader for the program.
The puck stuck with Penn State as Tiffany Hill and Butze tried to extend the Nittany Lion lead. Kelley stopped each shot but that didn’t slow Penn State down. The Orange barely got into the offensive zone as the Nittany Lions swarmed the puck.
Penn State continued to dominate the ice, having 20 shots on goal with five minutes left in the second period. Syracuse started to find a rhythm but the Penn State defense quickly quieted it.
To extend the lead, Nicole Hall took the puck from Brooks to shoot it past Kelley to extend the lead to 3-0 with one minute left in the second.
The final frame started with the ice tilting toward Syracuse. The Orange skated toward DeSa, but she was ready for the puck to come her way.
Penn State took over the puck as Outwater skated past Orange defenders to shoot past Kelley to make the score 4-0. This led to Syracuse taking out Kelley and replacing her with Bella Gould.
Syracuse continued to try to knock on the door toward DeSa but she did not let anything through. Throughout the final frame, Syracuse could not find the back of the net. Machado took a penalty for hooking to give Orange one final chance. The penalty was killed and Penn State secured the series win.
Takeaways
- The Penn State offense could not find their groove throughout the majority of the weekend. Despite a five-goal weekend, the first game remaining scoreless until overtime was uncharacteristic for the powerhouse offense.
- The Penn State defense showed up when it needed to. Throughout the weekend, the defense showed up when the offense was struggling to help secure the series sweep.
- DeSa continuously proves that she is an anchor for the team. She did not allow a single goal for the Orange the entire weekend.
What’s Next?
Penn State women’s hockey will compete against Lindenwood to continue conference play at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 24, at Centene Community Ice Center.
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