No. 4 Penn State’s women’s hockey (1-2-0 AHA) took down Robert Morris (1-2-0 AHA) 5-3 on Friday night in Pegula Ice Arena.

Robert Morris came out hot with a 2-0 lead, but it didn’t stop Penn State from fighting back as the Nittany Lions pulled out their first win of the season.

How It Happened

Robert Morris took the opening faceoff. After some back-and-forth, Robert Morris stayed consistent by keeping the puck under control. A shot was finally taken by Colonials’ Catriona Crarer right in front of the goal, resulting in a save by Nittany Lion goaltender Morgan Stickney.

Robert Morris took control early. Only 5 minutes in, Colonial Alaina Giampietro scored an unassisted power-play goal.

Penn State won the faceoff quickly after, but it didn’t stop Robert Morris from getting it back right away, resulting in another unassisted power-play goal from Colonial Rowyn Ringor.

As the 10-minute mark approached, the Nittany Lions weren’t taking the heat anymore. They kept the puck on their side of the ice, resulting in multiple looks at a goal from Sophie Morrow, Mikah Keller, and Kylie Amelkovich. They all missed right in front of the goal.

Penn State didn’t allow the Colonials to get the puck back and have another power-play goal. A power-play goal was scored by Penn State’s Nicole Hall from in front of the goal shortly after the goal from Ringor.

With only three minutes left in the first period, Penn State scored another goal off the stick of Sofia Ismael, assisted by Abby Stonehouse. The score ended off the first period 2-2, with 13 total shots taken by Penn State and six total shots taken by Robert Morris.

Another faceoff was won by Robert Morris to start off the second period. A lot of back-and-forth was played in the first few minutes, but no goals were scored.

There were many attempted shots from both teams in the first five minutes, all resulting in saves by Stickney and Robert Morris’ goaltender Maggie Hatch.

Even with all the back-and-forth play, Penn State managed well to keep the puck on its side. The possession gave it six shot opportunities by Ashley Kokavec, Stonehouse, Grace Outwater, Amelkovich, Megan Hosman, and Danica Maynard. All were saved by Hatch.

With just over eight minutes left, a penalty was put on Robert Morris’ Shayne Desjardins: a two-minute minor for tripping. This caused a media timeout.

Following the timeout, a faceoff was won by Penn State, giving the puck to Lorelai Nelson from behind the net. A shot was taken by Nelson that looked close in possibly giving the Nittany Lions the lead. Hatch just couldn’t be stopped when saving another one of Penn State’s chances to score.

With almost four minutes left in the second period, the Nittany Lions’ Outwater scored a crucial, unassisted goal from in front of the net, putting Penn State in the lead 3-2.

The second period ended with 27 total shots taken by Penn State and 10 total shots taken by Robert Morris.

Penn State won the faceoff to start the third period. Multiple shots were taken by the Colonials in the first few minutes, but Stickney kept its lead alive, stopping any chance of the puck entering the net.

With 12 minutes to go, two penalties get called on Robert Morris. The first penalty on Giampietro was a two-minute minor for hooking. The second penalty was on Kearns, a two-minute minor for tripping.

Shortly after, the Nittany Lions established their lead even more by adding an unassisted power-play goal scored by Hosman from the rear center of the attack zone. It took Penn State up 4-2 in the middle of the third.

Robert Morris, following the goal, tried to come back aggressively, but it soon caused a roughing penalty called on Greta Brezenski.

The combativeness never left Stonehouse, who took two shots from in front of and behind the net. Both shots were saved by Hatch.

Robert Morris’ Giampietro came from behind the net swept through, delivering a power-play goal. It tightened the score to 4-3.

Penn State still managed to finish the game with an empty-net goal scored by Stonehouse from behind the net.

Takeaway

• Three penalties were called on Robert Morris in the third period.
• Penn State won its first game of the season.

What’s Next?

Penn State gets right back on the ice for a second game against Robert Morris at 2 p.m. in Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday, October 3. The game will be available to stream on Big Ten Plus.