No. 8 Penn State women’s hockey (26-4-1, 18-0 AHA) beat Mercyhurst (16-3-2, 11-5-1 AHA) 4-3 in overtime to become AHA regular season champions.

Leah Stecker, Kendall Butze, and Tiffany Hill celebrated 100 career games as Nittany Lions. Lyndie Lobdell was the overtime hero to secure the win and trophy.

How It Happened

Tessa Janecke won the faceoff to start the series against Mercyhurst. The puck stayed in the offensive zone until Mercyhurst intercepted it to shoot toward Katie DeSa. The puck continued to bounce between teams early on in the match.

Five minutes into the game, Penn State had not shot toward the net against the Mercyhurst defense. This was until Maddy Christian was able to flick the puck toward Jorden Mattison to start to generate offense.

The Nittany Lions were put on the first power play when the Lakers were called for tripping. Miscommunication from Penn State allowed the Mercyhurst special teams to disrupt the advantage, killing the power play.

Taking the momentum from the power play, the Lakers skated into the offensive zone and fired the puck past DeSa to strike first. Off the faceoff, the Lakers got through the five-hole and extended the lead to 2-0 midway through the first period.

Not letting Mercyhurst pull away, Alyssa Machado dumped the puck to Christian to tap the puck into the net to score for the Nittany Lions.

The puck bounced right back toward the Lakers as DeSa left an open net, which allowed them to extend the lead to 3-1.

With five minutes left in the first frame, the Mercyhurst defense was dominating the game, not allowing any opportunities for the Penn State offense. However, after traffic in front of the net, Grace Outwater was able to sneak the puck past Mattison to make the score 3-2 to end the first period.

The second period started with a faceoff win by the Nittany Lions, but the ice was still tilted toward the Lakers. Penn State started to control the puck but could not set up the offense.

DeSa put her glove on top of pucks that came her way as Mercyhurst started to pick it up in the offensive zone. The Penn State defense blocked a couple of shots in front of the net. DeSa stood on her head as the Laker offense came alive midway through the second frame.

Mattison had the puck under her glove but lost it to Abby Stonehouse, who tapped the puck in to tie the game.

Tiffany Hill was called for a roughing penalty to put Mercyhurst on the power play for the first time in the game. The Penn State special teams returned to full strength after killing the power play.

After a Laker collided with Tiffany Hill, Penn State was put on the power play for tripping. Mercyhurst dominated the power play and did not allow Penn State to set up in the offensive zone.

Moments after, Mercyhurst was sent to the box for high-sticking. As time winded down in the second period, the Nittany Lions would start the final frame on the power play.

The Lakers were able to kill the power play as the Nittany Lions could not get set up on the advantage. The puck bounced between each team, neither able to hold onto it enough to shoot toward the net.

Janecke shot toward the break basket but could not slip the puck past Mattison midway through the third period. Despite having an offensive spark, the Nittany Lions could not hold onto the puck.

Each team was fighting for the puck to put the game to rest, but neither could find an offensive rhythm. Time ran out in the third period to send the game into overtime.

Penn State dominated in overtime, and Lyndie Lobdell was able to tip in the puck to secure the overtime win.

Takeaways

• Mercyhurst is a familiar foe for the Nittany Lions and tested the defense throughout the entire game. The defense struggled during the game and allowed multiple goals to keep the Lakers in the game.
• The power play could not get anything going throughout the game and was shut down each time by the Lakers. The team could not get set up during each advantage.
• Janecke continued to dominate the game by leading in shots and faceoffs won for Penn State. Her season has only continued to get better.

What’s Next?

Penn State will work to close out the series against Mercyhurst at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 8, at Pegula Ice Arena for Senior Day.