Jan. 15, 2016
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Penn State women's hockey team fell by a score of 3-0 against College Hockey America (CHA) opponent RIT Friday night inside the Gene Polisseni Center. The Tigers netted a pair of third period goals to capture the victory.
Neither team found the back of the net in the opening frame as Penn State (5-14-4, 1-4-4) outshot RIT, 12-5, in the first 20 minutes of play. Both teams had a chance on the power play in the opening period, but both defenses stepped up to keep the 0-0 tie intact. PSU went 0-for-1 and RIT (5-17-1, 1-7-1) went 0-for-2 on the power play during the first period.
With the score still tied at zero midway through the second period, RIT capitalized on a Nittany Lion penalty with 8:40 left on the clock. Just 16 seconds into their third power play attempt of the game, the Tigers netted a goal to take the 1-0 lead. Taylor Thurston scored her third goal of the 2015-16 season to put the Tigers on the scoreboard. Penn State posted a shot margin of 15-9 in the middle frame.
Heading into the final period, Penn State trailed RIT, 1-0. The Nittany Lions and Tigers were tightly-contested in the third period until RIT made it a two-goal contest with 5:02 left on the clock as Lindsay Stenason recorded her second goal of the season. With six seconds left in regulation, Jess Paton netted an empty-net goal for the 3-0 score.
In the game, Penn State outshot RIT, 33-24, and the Nittany Lions went 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Tigers were 1-for-4. In net, Jetta Rackleff recorded a 33-save performance for the win, while Celine Whitlinger (Garden Grove, Calif.) made 21 saves for the Blue and White.
The Nittany Lions close a 12-game road trip tomorrow inside the Gene Polisseni Center with puck drop set for 3 p.m.