No. 4 Penn State women’s hockey (29-5-0, 22-2-0 AHA) concluded its regular season at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon, taking down RIT (16-17-0, 11-13-0 AHA), 4-2, to secure the series split.

In their final game playing shorthanded due to the Winter Olympics, Penn State avenged Friday night’s defeat and fought off a furious second-period charge by RIT in front of over 1,400 fans.

How It Happened

Katie DeSa got the start in her final regular-season home game, her 26th of the season. After a low-event start, Maddy Christian got the game’s first shot on goal just over three minutes in, followed by a quick barrage of shots that put pressure on the RIT defense.

The pressure resulted in an early penalty for Madison Buziak for tripping at 4:03 to give Penn State an early power play. The next two minutes would not lead to much, however, as the Tigers excellently denied the Nittany Lions a shot on goal.

DeSa made her first save at the 5:30 mark on a long shot by Laura Dyke that was easily sticked aside. Penn State got its second power play at 8:02 on a body-checking penalty by Jaidan Fahrny. This time, it took only 11 seconds to strike, as a shot from Kendall Butze was saved by Brenna McNamara, only for Abby Stonehouse to bury her 10th goal of the season on the rebound at 8:13 to take an early 1-0 lead.

Abby jams this one in to give us our first lead! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/qe4mZflGVv

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) February 14, 2026

Penn State would strike again shortly after a stretch pass by Taya MacDonald sprung a rush into the offensive zone that ultimately resulted in a Grace Outwater deflection on a shot by Roberts to make it 2-0 at 10:27. It was Outwater’s team-leading 24th of the season.

TIP DRILL#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/CGwFqA5bM6

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) February 14, 2026

RIT’s nation-leading power play got its first opportunity at 11:58 when Danica Maynard went off for interference, but generated just one low-danger shot on goal late, similar to Penn State’s first power play. Shortly after Maynard came out of the box, Sophie Morrow’s long shot was deflected wide through the crease.

After over 18 minutes of Penn State dominating play, RIT got its first good look of the game on a shot in close from Fahrny, which produced a big rebound, but she sent the second chance wide with 90 seconds remaining.

A dustup between McKenna Walsh and Brac Kelly after DeSa froze the puck gave Penn State a third power play at 18:48 after Kelly face-washed Walsh. The first 72 seconds of the power play came and went as the teams went into intermission.

RIT killed off the final 48 seconds of the penalty out of intermission and tried to turn it the other way after it expired, but the most they could muster was a low-danger shot off the blocker by Olivia Urbach. Penn State missed a golden opportunity not long after, as Roberts tried to feed Stonehouse in what would’ve been a highlight-reel goal on the 2-on-1, but the pass was just out of reach.

RIT was generating more offense in the first half of the second period, but nothing was seriously threatening DeSa. Shelby Shane had two opportunities on back-to-back rushes over seven minutes in, but neither got to McNamara in net. Mikah Keller carried in and got a shot on net just over nine minutes in, with the rebound going right to Christian for a clean one-timer, but she fanned on the shot.

Keller got another chance on a breakaway at 9:50, but she was stopped by McNamara. The missed opportunities piled up and really started to sting, as Ireland Stein led a 2-on-1 the other way after the ensuing faceoff and, while DeSa saved her first shot, it deflected off the stick of a Nittany Lion and into the back of the net to make it 2-1 at 10:10.

RIT would get another power play at 11:54 when Roberts, frustrated behind the net, shoved down Kolbee Ashe. Early in the power play, a mad scramble ensued in front of the net after a centering pass into the crease saw DeSa have to make a big save on Fahrny. On the other end, Stonehouse was stopped by McNamara, looking for a shorthanded goal.

A chaotic power play concluded without an RIT equalizer, but another man-advantage came for the Tigers at 14:55 on a Walsh tripping penalty. This time, Penn State wouldn’t get away with it, as Stein scored her second of the game to tie it at 15:10.

After RIT fully stole the momentum, the Nittany Lions were able to pick themselves off the mat, putting the pressure back on McNamara. The dam eventually broke after 15 consecutive saves at 18:03, when Butze took her time and fired through a crowd and into the back of the net for her fifth of the season to make it 3-2 Penn State.

Kenny slots this one for our third of the night! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/iHT7r4y8gs

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) February 14, 2026

The final two minutes of the period would see Butze and Roberts get big chances, but fire it wide of the net.

The third period started with a bang, as Outwater broke into the offensive zone just 20 seconds in with Christian and had her initial shot saved, only for Christian to charge the crease and put home the rebound for her 19th of the season, making it 4-2 at 0:28.

Maddy buries the rebound to get the lead back to two! #WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/C19iuoFLyL

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) February 14, 2026

They quickly threatened for a fifth, as Roberts set up Walsh in the slot a minute later, but she was stopped by McNamara. At the five-minute mark, McNamara and the RIT defense somehow kept the puck out of the net despite several big chances for Penn State. Keller had a shot blocked attempting to hit an open net with McNamara out of position, while Christian and Outwater frantically tried to take advantage in the aftermath.

Roberts would take the game’s next penalty at 6:04 for body checking, but it was an incredibly uneventful power play for the Tigers, with the best chance coming on a Taylor Lum breakaway, but she couldn’t bury one shorthanded as the penalty expired.

For a vast majority of the third period, the two teams skated back and forth without any serious chances. RIT tried to make a final push before pulling the goalie as the final five minutes approached with shots by Ashe and Addie Alvarez, but DeSa stuck them aside. Christian got a final big chance at 16:15, but was also stopped.

RIT head coach Bruce Bates pulled the goaltender with 3:15 to go, upping the pressure in the offensive zone. DeSa made another three saves before Christian iced the puck, and Jeff Kampersal used his timeout with 2:24 left.

Off the timeout, RIT deflected one on net and kept the pressure on. Penn State finally cleared the zone with a minute to go, but Keller missed the empty net and was called for icing. The final minute ticked off, as the Nittany Lions held off the final RIT charge.

Takeaways

• Outwater’s tremendous goal-scoring streak ended on Friday night, but she made it 10 out of 11 games early in this one. Her 24 goals tie 2024-25 Tessa Janecke for second-most in a single season in program history, trailing only Kiara Zanon’s 26 in 2022-23.
• Kaitlyn Roberts picked up her 100th career point on Saturday, becoming just the sixth Nittany Lion to achieve the milestone in program history.
• One more milestone for the road: Kendall Butze’s three-point night gave her 30 on the season, breaking the program record for most points in a season by a defenseman, surpassing Izzy Heminger’s 28 in 2022-23.
• Penn State will welcome back its three Olympians, Nicole Hall, Matilde Fantin, and Janecke, for the conference tournament in two weeks. Let’s hope they bring some bling with them.
• If the Nittany Lions take care of business in the AHA Tournament, in which they’ll get the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, they won’t play another game this season away from Pegula Ice Arena. They’ll host the conference tournament for as long as they’re in it and are currently in position for a first-round bye and home-ice advantage in the NCAA Quarterfinal before the Frozen Four is hosted in Happy Valley. Nittany Nation will be able to support this team until the end.

Up Next

By winning the AHA regular season title, the women’s hockey team earned a bye to the AHA Tournament semifinal, which will be a best-of-three series against the winner of the Syracuse-RIT quarterfinal, beginning at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday, February 27, at a time and network to be determined.