No. 7 Penn State women’s hockey (8-3-0, 6-1-0 AHA) took down RIT (2-9-0, 2-1-0 AHA) 1-0 on Friday night at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, New York.

In a low-event game that was defined by a mess of penalties in the second period, Penn State found its lone goal late in the second period on an Abby Stonehouse backhander. Morgan Stickney made 13 saves and got the shutout.

How It Happened

Penn State opened this one as the aggressors, setting up in the RIT defensive end and firing shot after shot toward Oceanne Thiffault in net. The Nittany Lions’ aggressiveness earned them an early power play, as Addie Alvarez went to the box at 3:10.

RIT had a strong kill and only conceded one shot in the ensuing two minutes. With not many big chances early, RIT got a power play of its own at 8:41 on an Alanna Devlin penalty, but Penn State killed it off, needing just one save from Morgan Stickney.

Despite a big edge in shot attempts in the opening period, not many of them went on net for the Nittany Lions, as the game was scoreless after one.

The Tigers got an early power play in the second when Shelby Shane went to the box for hooking at 2:35, but Stickney made a pair of saves to keep the game scoreless.

The first half of the second period was fairly even, but things flipped back into Penn State’s favor when it got a power play at 11:56 on a Madison Buziak holding penalty. While that yielded no shots on net, it was a sign of Nittany Lion dominance in the next eight minutes.

Grace Outwater went to the box at 15:46 for cross-checking, but all three of the shots on net in the ensuing two minutes were by Penn State.

Shortly after Outwater came out of the box, RIT’s Eryka DeRocha went off for kneeing at 18:08, but just nine seconds later, Kylie Amelkovich took an interference penalty to put the teams in 4-on-4.

Just before the final minute of the second period, Penn State moved in on a 2-on-1. Sofia Ismael’s initial shot was stopped by Thiffault, but a loose puck fell onto the stick of Abby Stonehouse, who backhanded it through the five-hole for her fourth goal of the season at 18:48 to give Penn State the lead.

Stonehouse with a back hander to put the Nittany Lions on the board

PSU: 1 RIT: 0#WeAre https://t.co/PEFYMN38ZU pic.twitter.com/L0RFf6akiL

— Penn State Women’s Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) October 30, 2026

The rest of the 4-on-4 came and went, but after the two sides went back to five-a-side, the Nittany Lions amped up the pressure on Thiffault in net, chasing a second goal, but she kept making saves.

When RIT did have the puck in the offensive zone for much of the third period, it couldn’t generate much on net, as Penn State’s defense tightened up in front of Stickney.

The Tigers finally got a pair of shots on net with just over five minutes to go, but were thoroughly dominated in the period, never even being able to pull Thiffault in net as the clock bled down and the Nittany Lions took the series opener.

Takeaways

• Penn State did what it does best in AHA play: dominate. The Nittany Lions outshot the Tigers 35-13, had 41 more shot attempts, and won six more faceoffs. There have been times this season where you wonder why the team’s shooting percentage has been so low, but it’s still translating to wins.
• Morgan Stickney didn’t have to do much in this one, managing a 13-save shutout. The freshman, who’s now made four consecutive starts, notched her second career shutout.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions conclude this weekend’s series in Rochester, New York, against RIT at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 31. The game will be streamed on FloHockey.

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