Penn State Falls to BU in First Game of Series
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State women’s hockey team lost to 10th-ranked Boston University by a score of 5-2 with a different starting roster than usual.
Notable absences included star goalie Chantal Burke, and junior forwards Katie Rankin and Shea Nelson. They all did not play due to a coach’s gametime decision.
“They were all coaching decisions,” Coach Kampersal said. “They may be back [tomorrow]; it’s something I’ll talk about with our leadership group.”
After being on a four-game unbeaten streak, the Nittany Lions fell in a defensive battle to the Terriers.
BU quickly struck first, scoring within just twenty-two seconds as Kristina Schuler received a beautiful pass from the faceoff.
The Terriers continued their offensive attack with a Sammy Davis goal just five minutes later to build a 2-0 lead early on in the game. Had Chantal Burke been in net rather than Cam Leonard, the Nittany Lions likely would not have suffered these quick goals.
BU dominated the first period, exposing Penn State’s defense and keeping the puck in Penn State’s zone. With the way the game started, it looked as if Boston would dominate this whole game, but Penn State found their momentum in the second period.
Penn State came out aggressively in the second period, getting many great looks on goal. On a Terriers power play, Brooke Madsen capitalized on a BU mistake to score a shorthanded goal. With six minutes left in the second, the Nittany Lions got their mojo back and only trailed 2-1.
Things began to look interesting during the third period. Although Penn State made an effort to come back in the second period, the momentum shifted immediately back to the Terriers with another early period goal, making it 3-1 scored by Abby Cook.
With 15 minutes left, Sammy Davis went to the box, giving the Nittany Lions a power play. Penn State continued to fight back and used this power play to their advantage. Freshman Rachel Weiss found the back of the net with a slap shot from the red line, making the score 3-2.
Around eight minutes left in the game, BU’s MacKenna Parker committed a penalty putting Penn State back on power play. Penn State, however, was not able to take advantage of this power play. That was their last opportunity to get something going on offense.
One of Penn State’s five penalties came at the worst possible time. Penn State, trying to tie it up at three, went back to the penalty box and let up a power play goal as a result. After the power play goal, Penn State pulled their goalie to get an extra attacker on the ice hoping to score a goal. They were unable to get one past Corrine Schroeder, the Terriers’ goalie who shined with 22 saves, and the Lions let up an empty net goal scored by BU’s Kaleigh Donnelly to put this one away, 5-2.
“From an overall perspective I thought our players played with a lot of heart and soul,” Kampersal said. “I thought it was a good, solid effort with everyone supporting one another, the outcome is what it is, but I’m proud of the way they played.”
The Nittany Lions drop to 3-3-3, while the Terriers improve to 4-1-1. Penn State will go for a rematch against Boston University Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions are 0-3 against top-10 teams and will try to get their first on Saturday.
Austin Groft is a freshman studying broadcast journalism. To contact him please email atg5271@psu.edu.
