No. 6 Penn State women’s hockey (9-0-0, 5-0-0 AHA) defeated Lindenwood (1-8-0, 0-1-0 AHA) 6-1 at home on Friday afternoon in the team’s fifth conference matchup this season.

A 50-shot barrage from the Nittany Lions was too much for Lindenwood to handle as Janake and Hall each scored twice in the demanding win.

How It Happened

Tessa Janecke won the opening draw for the Nittany Lions, getting things started. Molly Henderson entered the zone for Lindenwood seconds later after a Penn State turnover, and let go of a wrister that was swallowed up by Katie DeSa for the first save of the game.

Just over six minutes into play, Penn State found its first scoring chance off an offensive faceoff win. Abby Stonehouse ripped a shot from the slot, but missed wide right of the cage. The Nittany Lions retained possession, and the puck found Kendall Butze’s stick, but her shot was turned aside by Lindenwood goalie Lexington Secreto.

Penn State would earn the game’s first power play after Hannah Dods was called for hooking at 7:36. Michaela Paulinyova took the puck from Sophie Miller at the blue line and found herself all alone with DeSa, shorthanded. After going forehand, backhand, Paulinyova had a wide-open net to slide the puck into the net 9:17 into the game.

Stonehouse was robbed of a breakaway goal after Secreto stuck out the right pad to deny the grade-A chance 12:43 into the period. On the ensuing play, McKenna Walsh cut to the net, but Secreto jumped on the puck in the crease to stop play.

Rhaea Flint was called for a minor tripping penalty with 2:04 remaining in the first period, sending Penn State back on the power play for the second time in the period. The Nittany Lions were unable to get things going on the man advantage, and after 20 minutes of play, 16 shots on net, and two power play chances, Penn State was scratching its head trying to find a way to beat Secreto.

31 seconds into the middle period, Mikah Keller was called for tripping, sending Lindenwood to its first man advantage. Grace Ouwater picked up the loose puck in the defensive zone and turned up ice. Finding herself in a 2-on-1 with Janacke, Ouwater slid the feed across to Janacke for the tap-in goal, evening the score at 1-1.

G.O. forces the turnover and Tessa buries it to knot us at one!#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/jmLA7X5shT

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) October 24, 2025

Lindenwood put one shot up on the power play after the short-handed goal, but was unable to take back the lead.

Minutes later, Matidle Fantin skated through the neutral zone with the puck after the Nittany Lions forced a turnover and entered Penn State’s territory. She let go of a rister from just inside the Big Ten logo and beat Secreto to take the lead 5:14 into the second period.

Zsophia Pazmandi was called for roughing at 9:06, sending the Nittany Lions to their third power play of the afternoon. Keller fed Janake with a beautiful cross-ice pass, who buried the one-timer for her second goal of the period at 10:44.

With under five minutes remaining in the period, Nicole Hall picked up the puck next to the Lindenwood net, circled to face Secreto, and fired the puck past her to extend the Nittany Lion lead to 4-1.

Nikki buries the loose puck and we're having fun now#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/xtxQXbupC6

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) October 24, 2025

12 seconds into the final period, Henderson was called for hooking, sending Penn State back to the AAA power play. Maddie Christain entered to zone and hit Fantin in the left circle, who slid the puck across to Outwater for the goal, adding to the already existing lead 1:38 into period three.

Mya Vaslit skated across the blue lines and dropped the pass back to Hall in the left circle. She skated in and ripped her second goal of the game past Secreto, giving the Nittany Lions a 6-1 lead 2:33 into period three.

Penn State earned its fifth man advantage of the game when Paulinyova was called for tripping at 9:55. Janake hit Stonehouse with the cross ice feed, but her shot was swallowed by Secreto. After a reset, Christian entered the zone and circled the net, hoping to find the goalie out of position. With nothing there, she let go of a weak rister. After the penalty expired, Christian slid into the net, stopping play momentarily.

The final ten minutes were a back-and-forth battle with no real scoring chances. DeSa swallowed up three more shots as the Nittany Lions closed out their Friday afternoon contest.

Takeaways

• After a very slow first period, the Nittany Lions unleashed four goals in the second period to halt the early Lindenwood momentum.
• Penn State outshot Lindenwood 50-13, firing shots towards the net every chance they got.
• Janake and Hall put up two goals each, posting their personal season highs in the team’s fifth conference matchup of the season.

What’s Next?

Penn State women’s hockey will hit the ice against Lindenwood at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 25, at Pegula Ice Arena. The game can be streamed on BTN+, or you can follow along with live updates from @OnwardSports on X.