Penn State Shutout In Loss to Syracuse
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa—Goaltender Maddi Welch gets her first shutout, and forward Anonda
Hoppner scores her second goal of the season for the Orange, as Syracuse holds off Penn State 1-
0 in a CHA conference showdown.
After a back and forth first period, both Syracuse and Penn State had an array of scoring chances
with six shots on goal for each team, but both goaltenders Maddi Welch and Jenna Brenneman
played great and stopped them all.
Late in the first period, junior defenseman Kate Rydland went to the penalty box for holding, and
the Orange had plenty of opportunities to get the game’s first goal, but the Penn State defense
held on and killed the penalty to keep the game scoreless.
In the beginning of the second period, the Nittany Lions came out aggressive and were looking to
break the tie. The Nittany Lions were moving the puck around, getting pucks to the net and
controlling the possession the first few minutes.
After a Shea Nelson slashing penalty with 16 minutes left in the second period, the Orange
capitalized on the power play on a goal by junior forward Anonda Hoppner coming off passes
from Emma Polaski and Kelli Rowswell to give Syracuse a 1-0 lead.
Although the shots on goal were even at 17 a piece after two periods, the penalty on Nelson was
a momentum shift for the Orange, as they had majority of the scoring chances in the period.
Penalties killed the Nittany Lions through the first two periods and that was the difference
in the game.
In the third period, the Nittany Lions couldn’t get anything going. In the final 20 minutes, Penn
State was only able to get off one shot on goal and only had a total of 18 all game. Syracuse kept
applying pressure on both sides of the ice and outshot the Nittany Lions 29-18. Defensively, Syracuse blocked all passing and shooting lanes in the period thanks to big games from Lindsay Eastwood and Allie Munroe.
Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal thought the Nittany Lions started off well, but Syracuse
was simply too dominant throughout the game.
“I think we started decently but ended poorly,” Kampersal said. “We got absolutely worked in
that third period which is disappointing at our home, so this group is definitely leaking oil. We
need to coach a lot better and we need to play a lot better.”
One bright side for the Nittany Lions was the great goaltending from junior Jenna Brenneman.
She stopped 28 of 29 shots and only let up one goal. However, Kampersal thinks she can play
better and doesn’t know who will get the nod in net tomorrow.
“She (Brenneman) made one big save and I think she can play better,” Kampersal said. “I don’t
think she did a good job on the goal against.”
Penn State will have to find a way to get more offensive pressure in tomorrow’s game against the
Orange. Only one shot in the third period when playing from behind isn’t good, and the Nittany
Lions have to be better in all three phases of the game. Syracuse moves to 3-6 (3-2) while this
loss makes Penn State is 4-6-1 (0-3).
Matthew McClure is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mcm5964@psu.edu.
