Penn State Women’s Hockey Blanks Brown In Game 1
The Penn State Nittany Lions took game one of their two game series against Brown, winning 3-0.
Brown dominated most of the first period by getting eight shots off and held Penn State to zero. Brown controlled the puck and seemed to control the momentum but it was Penn state that had the lead after a power play goal by Olivia Wallin.
Head coach Jeff Kampersal wasn’t too happy with the slow start in the first but was pleased with everything that came after. “We’re fortunate to be up one after one,” Kampersal said.
While the offense got off to a slow start, it was the defense and goalie Josie Bothun that picked up the slack. Bothum saved all 17 of the attempted shots by Brown’s offense; she has allowed only three goals in the past four games.
“I’m just kind of building on every game, like just one game at a time,” Bothun said. “I don’t really tend to focus on the past or the future.”
Opening the second period, Penn State extended its lead to two after Alyssa Machado got up close to the goal and scored for her fourth goal of the season which ended up being a key piece in the win over the Bears.
The Nittany Lions added onto their lead at the end of the second period after Kiara Zanon and Leah Stecker assisted Tessa Janecke in a goal. Janecke now has 11 goals on the season and continues her great freshman campaign.
Penn State shot the puck 23 times throughout the game, which is way less than its 33.9 shots per-game season average. However, the quality of the shots were what got the Lady Lions the three point lead and the win.
One of the main key points of this game was the power plays/ Penn State capitalized on the penalty by Brown for their first goal and went one-for-three on the power plays while Brown wouldn’t get a single goal on three power play opportunities.
Penn State came into this game 8-5-1 on the season with a 3-1 conference record, and with this win the Nittany Lions improve to 9-5-1 and have now won their last seven out of ten games.
Brown came into this game 3-2-1 with a 2-2 conference record, and now the Bears fall to 3-3-1. They’re undefeated road record will come to an end and are now 0-3 against ranked opponents.
Penn State and Brown have a quick turn around for the final game in their two game series.
They play on Monday, September 14 at 2 p.m. in the Pegula Ice Arena, just 20 hours after the start of Sunday’s game.
Micheal Bolger is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email mpb6233@psu.edu.
