No. 4 Penn State women’s hockey (2-2-0, 2-0-0 AHA) defeated Robert Morris (1-3-0, 0-2-0 AHA) at Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon, 4-1, to secure the weekend sweep.

A hat trick from Sofia Ismael as part of a brilliant, four-point afternoon powered a much more comfortable victory after Friday night’s nail-biting win.

How It Happened

Alanna Devlin won the opening faceoff for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions were unable to generate a shot on net.

The first shot of the game did go to the Nittany Lions, as Sophie Morrow had a nice opportunity at the net 50 seconds in, but but was denied by Robert Morris goalie Maggie Hatch.

Penn State struck first at 2:15 in the first period, with Sofia Ismael’s shot finding the back of the net, giving them an early 1-0 lead.

Robert Morris first opportunity came with 14:51 left in the first period when Lucy Thiessen’s shot went just wide.

Penn State’s Shelby Shane had an opportunity on net that Hatch stopped. Kylie Amelkovich had a stunning pass to Grace Outwater shortly after, who was unable to generate a shot.

Amelkovich got a redirect from Morrow and snuck it past Hatch, with 11:39 remaining in the first, giving Penn State a 2-0 lead in the first period, the first goal of her Nittany Lion career.

Amelkovich had another opportunity shortly after on net that was denied by Hatch.

Robert Morris’s Greta Brezensk was called to the penalty box for a two-minute minor for tripping, with 7:30 left in the first period to put Penn State on the power play.

Danica Maynard had two shots blocked by the Colonials’ Shayne Desjardins in back-to-back shot attempts, but the Nittany Lions capitalized on the power play, as Ismael netted her second goal of the game, assisted by Morrow at 13:46 in the first, giving them a 3-0 lead with under six minutes to play.

Maynard went to the penalty box for tripping with 4:27 left in the first period. The Colonials were unable to generate a shot on net in the two minutes as the Nittany Lions went back to full strength.

Laura Eustace was sent to the penalty box for the Colonials with 1:25 remaining in the first period for cross-checking, which gave Penn State another power play.

Abby Stonehouse, Morrow, and Grace Outwater all had chances on net with seconds remaining in the first period; Stonehouse and Outwater both had one-timers that went wide of the net. The Colonials’ Caroline Aufiero blocked Morrow’s shot.

Penn State was unable to generate a shot on net before the end of the period; the Nittany Lions started the second period on the power play. Robert Morris went back to full strength early in the second and made a push into Penn State territory but was not able to generate a shot.

Penn State’s Grace Tullock was sent to the penalty box with 17:24 remaining in the second for holding, resulting in a power play for the Colonials. Outwater had a short-handed opportunity on the net but was denied by Hatch.

Maynard was then sent to the box for interference with 15:43 remaining in the second, which gave Robert Morris a 5-on-3 advantage.

Robert Morris first shot on goal was all it took for them to score. The Colonials found the back of the net with 15:22 left in the second period. Jessica MacKinnon netted her second goal of the season; they still trailed 3-1.

Penn State tested Hatch early in the second period; the Nittany Lions were unable to find the back of the net. Hatch made some good saves to keep her team in the game.

Eustace had a chance for Robert Morris with 12:17 left in the second period but was denied by Maddy Campbell. Mikah Keller generated a steal and produced a shot but was denied again by Hatch.

Robert Morris’s Taylor Storey was sent to the penalty box with 8:25 remaining in the second period for slashing, giving Penn State their third power play of the night. The Colonials were able to kill the penalty without giving up a goal.

Outwater went to the penalty box with 5:37 left in the second period for tripping, sending Robert Morris on the power play for the fourth time in only two periods.

Mya Kearns had a great opportunity on the power play but was shut down by Campbell. The Nittany Lions returned to full strength, leading 3-1.

Stonehouse had another opportunity; the shot was rejected by Hatch. Penn State was called offside with twelve seconds left in the second period.

Maynard hit the post early in the third period; the puck didn’t find the back of the net, keeping the score 3-1. Morrow made a defender miss and got a shot on net, but Hatch made a good save to keep the score the same. Hatch denied Morrow again with the glove; Robert Morris cleared the puck, which ended up being called icing.

Hall delivered a pass that gave McKenna Walsh a breakaway; the shot was denied by Hatch, who made an unreal effort to keep the puck out of the net.

Outwater went to the penalty box with 11:18 left in the third period for hooking, leading to another Robert Morris power play. Robert Morris was in the Penn State zone during the power play but couldn’t score; the Nittany Lions returned to full strength, leading 3-1.

Penn State found the net with 8:42 remaining in the third period to ice it. Ismael netted her third goal of the game after a beautiful pass from Stonehouse to give the Nittany Lions a 4-1 lead.

Penn State pressured Hatch late in the third period, but could not find the back of the net on multiple shot attempts.

Kaitlyn Schooley went to the penalty box for two minutes for roughing at 15:31, which gave Penn State their fourth power play of the game. Maynard had a wide-open net but couldn’t cash it in. Penn State had multiple early chances to score and just couldn’t make it happen. The Colonials returned to full strength without giving up a goal.

The final 2:29 ticked off, as the Nittany Lions enjoyed a sweep to begin conference play.

Takeaways

• Penn State led Robert Morris 3-0 after the first period, outshooting them 15-0.
• Penn State dominated today’s match on all ends of the ice, a stark reversal from last week against Ohio State
• Penn State outshot Robert Morris 52-4. Yesterday was closer, but the overall totals in the series were 91 to 20.

What’s Next?

Penn State women’s hockey will be back in action against Syracuse at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 9th, at the Tennity Ice Pavilion. Folks can watch along on Big Ten Plus.