Series Preview: Penn State Women’s Hockey vs. Mercyhurst
On Sunday, January 22 and Monday, January 23, Penn State women’s hockey takes on the Mercyhurst Lakers in Erie, Pennsylvania at Mercyhurst Ice Center.
This CHA conference matchup is vital to the Nittany Lions as they are just one game above the Lakers in the standings after a tough split series against RIT at home.
Last weekend, the Penn State women’s hockey team did not play to their full potential allowing RIT to score two late goals in game one. Even though the goals did not affect the outcome of the game, this game could have been goaltender Josie Bothun’s sixth shutout of the season.
Bothun, who is now posting a .917 save percentage and 2.04 goals against average and has been playing lights-out for the Nittany Lions lately, leading them to a six game winning streak before being replaced with freshman Katie DeSa for game two against the RIT Tigers.
Penn State tied RIT 2-2 after no one scored in overtime with DeSa allowing two goals past her on 13 Tiger shots.
A positive for Penn State was that junior captain forward Kiara Zanon scored her 100th and 101st collegiate career point on two shorthanded goals that got everyone on their feet.
If the Nittany Lions want to stay in first place in the CHA, it’s imperative that they win both games against Mercyhurst to move from 6-1-1 to 8-1-1 and take a three game lead over the Lakers.
One player that has been absolutely on fire for the Nittany Lions is freshman Tessa Janecke. Janecke has tallied 12 points in the Nittany Lions last seven games with four goals and eight assists.
On the Mercyhurst side, defenseman Sydney Pedersen has six points in the Lakers last four games. Pedersen was awarded CHA Defenseman of the Week, this is her fourth career weekly CHA honor and her first this season.
Mercyhurst goaltender Ena Nystrøm has been very solid for the Lakers as she currently holds a .906 save percentage and 2.87 goals against average.
Nystrøm currently has two shutouts on the season compared to Bothun’s five.
Fans of both schools should expect a high shot total but low score for both games. But anything can happen as these goaltenders have been brick walls for their programs and both teams have high firepower offenses.
The Mercyhurst Lakers are on a four-game win streak headed into this in conference series against the Nittany Lions who are on a seven-game unbeaten streak and undefeated in 2023.
If the Lakers take these two games away from Penn State, they will be in first place in the CHA. For Penn State they need to meet expectations if they want to stay on top of the current CHA standings.
Christopher Machado is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email, cvm6238@psu.edu.
