Penn State women’s hockey faced RIT in a September exhibition game and lost in a shootout. The Nittany Lions face the Tigers again on Friday.

No. 7 Penn State is a much different team now, however, growing with every game thanks to an incredibly young core. The Nittany Lions are 7-1 in October, and believe they are ready for RIT’s physicality this time around.

“RIT is very physical. We need to be ready,” head coach Jeff Kampersal said. “When we’re about to get hit, we need to sort of reverse the charges.”

The Nittany Lions are no strangers to physical contests, playing early-season series against No. 1 Ohio State and Robert Morris.

But as the season enters the winter months, Penn State is finding its stride after back-to-back series sweeps of Lindenwood and St. Lawrence, and Kampersal thinks the Nittany Lions are ready for the physical battles at this point in the season.

Alongside physicality, the power play will be a crucial factor for both teams.

Penn State has found success on the power play against St. Lawrence and throughout the season, with a 24.3% power-play rate and three power-play goals over the weekend.

“The power play got us equal with St. Lawrence late, and then was able to get us into overtime,” Kampersal said of Penn State’s 2-1 overtime victory to complete the sweep against the Skating Saints.

“That’s going to be really important this weekend because RIT, historically, has a really good power play. We need to, one, not take penalties, and then two, be aggressive so they don’t get a chance to set up.”

Another cornerstone of Penn State’s success is starting with urgency.

In Friday’s contest against St. Lawrence, Penn State’s sticks were quiet until the third period, when it rattled off three unanswered goals for the win.

Kampersal doesn’t want his team to need a deficit to turn up the intensity. He wants his team “fighting for [their] lives from the first period through the sixth period.”

“We’re better when we’re down right now,” Kampersal said. “We need to start with that sort of back-against-the-wall mentality.”

The Nittany Lions will look for that intensity in the upcoming series, and to “get inside the dots and make plays.”

The final key factor for Penn State will be the loss of Nicole Hall for the RIT series, as she represents her home country of Sweden.

Hall has had a strong start to the campaign, tallying four goals and an assist, including a two-goal performance against Syracuse.

“She’s really a player who pours her heart and soul into each shift, and she’s an improved goal scorer,” Kampersal said. “We’re gonna go through [Wednesday] and Thursday to see, maybe put somebody on their wing.”

The Nittany Lions begin their series against RIT in Rochester, New York, on Friday, October 30, at 6 p.m. Saturday’s puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m.