Women’s Hockey Series Grades vs. Lindenwood

Story posted January 31, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Joshua Bartosik

In an emotion-packed weekend that featured Senior Day, then ranked No. 12 Penn State came away with yet another sweep in CHA play against Lindenwood, furthering itself from the rest of the conference competition.

Game one was an offensive onslaught for the Nittany Lions, with a resounding 5-1 victory.

Game two was a different story, with the blue and white falling behind by two early before scoring six straight to come away with a 6-3 victory.

Here are the series grades for the week:

Offense: A+
Any weekend where you score 11 goals is a good weekend, and putting up 80 shots throughout the two contests also helps.

In a weekend surrounding the seniors, Eleri McKay blossomed in her final home series as a collegiate player.

The Colgate transfer ended the weekend with four goals and six points and was the first star of the game in both matches.

Junior superstar Kiara Zanon scored her 21st goal of the season as well, breaking the previous record set by Natalie Heising.

The offense continues to fire on all cylinders, and at the perfect time as the regular season nears its end.

Defense: A-
While the offense put up 80 shots, the blue line held Lindenwood to 46 shots on the weekend, including less than 25 shots in each game.

Senior defenseman Rene Gangarosa had a stellar weekend, steadying play on the back end while adding a pair of assists to her stat line.

Mallory Uihlein also had two helpers on the weekend, giving the defensive units a nice balance of offensive pressure and defensive stability.

Despite not getting a healthy amount of blocked shots, the Nittany Lions limited the high-danger chances to a minimum throughout the weekend.

Goaltending: A
More of the same in net for the blue and white, as Josie Bothun backstopped her squad to another sweep.

Bothun stopped 23-of-24 shots in the first contest, and saw the shutout bid disappear in the final five minutes of the game.

After giving up two goals early in the second game, Bothun was a brick wall after that, not giving up another goal until the last 60 seconds.

When Bothun is at the top of her game, so are the blue and white, and they will need that sturdy goaltending in the final few weeks of play.

Coaching: A
For the first time in the Jeff Kampersal era, there was a new word floating around on the bench and on the ice: resiliency.

After going down early in the second game, it appeared the Nittany Lions were heading straight for one of their patented disappointing CHA performances, similar to RIT a few weeks prior.

Instead the blue and white battled back and scored two quick goals halfway through the second period and four goals in the third to secure the resounding comeback victory.

The come from behind win doesn’t just help in the standings, it boosts team morale, something that is desperately needed down the stretch.

Kampersal’s squad will finish their CHA play on the road at Syracuse and RIT, and are inching ever closer to securing the first seed in the conference.

Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.