Penn State Women’s Hockey vs. Syracuse Series Preview
For the second straight weekend, Pegula Ice Arena will be host to a series with potential playoff implications at the top of the CHA as Penn State battles Syracuse.
The top two teams in the CHA are both coming off of sweeps this past weekend.
For the Nittany Lions, it was a sweep of Mercyhurst that propelled them from third place to first place in the CHA standings.
Led by sophomore goalie Josie Bothun, the Nittany Lions were able to take the first game of the series 2-1 in overtime on Friday afternoon followed by a 3-1 victory on Saturday.
Bothun, who has a 1.85 goals against average in 25 games this season, was awarded CHA Goalie of the Week and January CHA Goaltender of the Month.
On the offensive side of things, Natalie Heising and Mallory Uihlein each had two-goal games to propel the Nittany Lions. Heising finished the weekend with three points to increase her team-leading point total to 34 on the season.
For the Orange, their sweep of Lindenwood over the weekend extended their winning streak to five games and included their 200th win in program history.
Syracuse had two of its own two-goal games this weekend, both coming in the first game of the series. Madison Primeau and Victoria Klimek combined for four out of the six goals that Syracuse scored on Friday. Klimek recorded another one the following day as part of her three-goal weekend.
Primeau and Klimek were awarded CHA Player of the Week honors, along with teammate Jessica DiGirolamo.
Syracuse's primary goalie, Arielle DeSmet, stopped 23 of 24 shots on Friday night. The senior goalie, who has appeared in 20 games this season, has a goals-against average of 2.07. She got the night off on Saturday in favor of Allison Small, who allowed three goals on 35 shots.
This weekend's series will be the second of the season for these two programs after they split two games in November. The Nittany Lions took the first game of that series 1-0 in overtime. That game was one of the six shutouts of Bothun’s sophomore campaign thus far.
The Orange bounced back the following night with a 6-3 win. Syracuse generated scoring chances and chased Bothun from the game in favor of redshirt senior Cam Leonard.
Something is going to have to give when the two teams face off this weekend. The Nittany Lions allowed two goals against Mercyhurst, while Syracuse was able to put up 10 goals against Lindenwood.
Syracuse was able to get the best of Bothun in the second game of their first meeting and with puck drops less than 24 hours apart, fatigue could be a factor if Syracuse can get enough pucks to the net in the first game.
While Bothun has been stopping nearly everything coming her way, the more shots that can be put on net the better chance they have of one trickling in, especially in the second game.
A key for Penn State will be to get its offense going.
The offense has not been producing consistently as of late and may have to be relied upon to keep the game close with the Syracuse offense. Generating offensive zone time could also help in reducing the pressure that Syracuse will look to put on Bothun.
The series begins Friday with puck drop slated for 6 p.m. The two teams will face off again on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Justin Ciavolella is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
