Penn State Womens Hockey Series Grades vs. Brown
The No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions battled the Brown Bears in their fifth non-conference series of the season.
Game one was total domination from the Nittany Lions, with a resounding 3-0 shutout victory.
Game two was much closer, however, with the blue and white needing a last-minute third period goal to secure the series sweep.
Let’s take a deep dive into the performances from this past weekend.
Offense: B+
The offense was clicking on all cylinders in the first game, with three goals on 26 shots.
Tessa Janecke added to her remarkable freshman campaign, with her 11th goal of the season. That tally puts her in sole possession of first amongst freshman goal scorers and second in the nation overall.
The second game was more resemblant of years past for Penn State, however. They struggled to find the back of the net as they were in a deadlock with the Bears until the 19-minute mark of the third period, where Julie Gough was the hero.
The blue and white will try to fix their bad habits of offensive struggles, especially in their upcoming series against No. 6 Yale.
Defense: C-
Once again, the defense was a major sore spot on the series for Jeff Kampersal’s squad. Time and time again offensive pressure turned into odd-man rushes, which nearly turned into goals more times than not.
The defensive pairing of Lyndie Lobdell and Karley Garcia all season has struggled to produce steady play in their own end. It may be time for Kampersal to try and switch things up defensively to make it easier on his goaltender.
Goaltending: A
Speaking of goaltending, Josie Bothun once again had a fantastic weekend. Bothun picked up her third shutout of the season in the first game of the series, stopping all 17 shots she faced.
The second game wasn’t as pretty for the junior netminder, but she was sharp when she needed to be, only giving up two goals on 20 shots.
Bothun has steadily been improving since the beginning of the season, now sitting with a .922 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average. The blue and white will need her to be at the top of her game for their next ranked matchup.
Coaching: B
While the second game wasn’t necessarily the performance Kampersal would have liked, the end result is nothing to complain about.
Penn State picked up their third sweep of the season, and a large part of the success was due to the special teams performances.
The power play was a respectable 2-for-5 on the series, while the penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6.
When the special teams are clicking, the rest of the team is clicking, and the Nittany Lions will be looking to continue clicking into their next series.
Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.
