Penn State Women’s Hockey Series Grades vs. Syracuse
Penn State managed to clinch the CHA regular season title this past weekend with a series sweep over Syracuse.
The blue and white opened the weekend with a 7-0 victory and was followed by a 4-1 win to complete the sweep.
Here’s a look at how each position group performed in the win.
Offense: A
Scoring 11 goals in a two-game series is nothing to scoff at.
The Nittany Lions poured it on especially in game one with goals in each period of the win.
Olivia Wallin scored twice in the win while the nation's leading goal scorer Kiara Zanon scored the first of her two goals during the weekend.
The Nittany Lions outshot the Orange in the game by six as they were able to constantly apply pressure.
During the next game, the offense was a bit slow to arrive at the party which hinders the overall grade just a bit.
The blue and white failed to score a goal during the first two periods but with the game scoreless, Penn State woke up.
All four goals in the Nittany Lions’ win came in the third which was capped off by a shorthanded goal from Zanon.
It was a balanced offensive effort from the Nittany Lions who have dominated the Orange during the regular season, outscoring them 26-4 in their four meetings.
Defense: A+
The case can be made that the defense was just a tad better than the offense this weekend.
Syracuse failed to put up over 20 shots in either game and the only goal during the series came late in the third period in game two when the Nittany Lions were already up 4-0.
Even with the Nittany Lions taking more shots, they still came close to Syracuse’s block total in both games.
Sarah Thompson came into the series as the leading goal scorer for the Orange and was not only held without a goal, she was held without a point.
A big part of this high grade was made possible with this next position.
Goaltending: A+
Josie Bothun was near-perfect during the series.
Bothun didn’t see as many shots as she normally would this weekend but she proved to be a brick wall.
In the opening game, Bothun was perfect having saved all 19 shots in the game.
That win was the fifth shutout of the season for Bothun.
The goaltender followed that up with another great performance the next day with 18 saves only allowing one late goal.
Coaching: A
Head coach Jeff Kampersal rarely let the Nittany Lions make mistakes.
The Nittany Lions only took a total of four penalties, three of which were in game two.
None of those penalties resulted in goals, however, at least for Syracuse.
The Nittany Lions converted on a power play of their own in game one which didn’t have much of an impact on the overall result of what was a great weekend for the blue and white.
Logan Bourandas is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
