Women’s Ice Hockey Falls to RIT 4-1

Story posted October 26, 2012 in CommRadio, Sports by Allie Rothman

The Penn State Nittany Lions (2-5-0, 0-3-0 CHA) suffered their third CHA loss Thursday night at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion as the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers (1-2-0, 4-3-0 CHA) defeated them 4-1.

RIT started the game strong offensively with Katie Hubert slipping a shot past Penn State goaltender Nicole Paniccia just over three minutes into the first period. The Tigers used speed and quick passes to keep control of the puck in Penn State’s zone for most of the period.  

Following an RIT penalty, freshman forward Shannon Yoxheimer tied it up on a pass from captain Taylor Gross on a four-on-three power play late in the first period. Yoxheimer’s goal was the first home goal for the Nittany Lions in their inaugural season as a varsity program.

“Its good to get up on the board early and it really means a lot because we practiced that this week,” Yoxheimer said. “Taylor gave me a really nice pass and it felt good to be able to execute it.”

The Tigers scored twice in the second period with Hubert taking advantage of a penalty to Madison Smiddy for cross-checking for her second goal of the game with assists to Lindsay Gregg and Erin Zach while on the power play.  Zach scored late in the second period while shorthanded to make it 3-1.

Penn State’s struggles on special teams continued to haunt them in the third period. The Tigers put away the Nittany Lions late in the third period on a penalty to Paige Jahnke for tripping.  Tenecia Hiller scored with a little over three minutes left in regulation with Carly Payerl and Ariane Yokoyama receiving the assists.

Coach Josh Brandwene was happy with his team’s effort, but says they need to work on their special teams.

“From a physical standpoint we gave a good effort and I think one of the stories for today in terms of improvement is special teams.  It was a big difference in the game today,” said Brandwene.

Penn State faces off against RIT again Friday night and host Sacred Heart next weekend.

Allie Rothman is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, e-mail aqr5139@psu.edu.