Feb. 11, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team closes out its eight-game homestand against Lindenwood this weekend inside the Pegula Ice Arena. This weekend will serve as Senior Weekend for the Nittany Lions. Following each game, the Nittany Lions will honor six seniors. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and live video for free courtesy of GoPSUsports.com.
PROMOTIONS
Saturday's game is a Family 4-Pack game. For $30, fans can purchase four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks.
BAG POLICY
Fans are reminded that bags may be subject to search upon entrance to the Pegula Ice Arena.
SCOUTING THE LIONS (7-19-4, 4-8-4)
The Lindenwood Lions closed out their home portion of the 2015-16 regular season with a 3-2 loss and 2-1 win against RIT last weekend inside Lindenwood Ice Arena. Lindenwood enters the series against Penn State with an overall record of 7-19-4 and 4-8-4 in the College Hockey America standings.
In the CHA standings, Robert Morris ranks third (16 points) followed by Penn State (15) and Lindenwood (12). Mercyhurst (24) and Syracuse (22) currently are one-two in the conference standings. The top-two teams receive an automatic bye during the CHA First Round, while seeds three and four host on campus sites. Only four games remain in the 2015-16 CHA season.
The Lions are led by senior Shara Jasper, who ranks second in the CHA with 29 points (18g, 11a) and her 18 goals are the most in the conference this season.
Along Jasper, Shannon Morris-Reade is one of the top freshmen in the CHA this season. Morris-Reade has tallied 21 points on seven goals and 14 assists. Her 21 points this season are tied for the second-most in the CHA in 2015-16. Shannon Morris-Reade also ranks in the top-10 in the NCAA this season in freshman scoring.
In net, Nicole Hensley has played in 25 games, made 769 saves, allowed 61 goals, tallied a goals against average of 2.42 and a save percentage of .927.
Nationally, Lindenwood ranks 15th on the penalty kill (96/115 -- 83.5%) and 30th on the power play (12/98 -- 12.2%). The Lions also rank ninth in penalty minutes per game with 8.2.
As a team, the Lions rank fourth in the CHA with 1.87 goals per game and fifth with 2.67 goals allowed per game.
LAST SERIES RECAP
Last weekend, the Nittany Lions fell in a pair of one-goal games (3-2 OT, 2-1) against Syracuse inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
In the series opener, Syracuse took a 1-0 lead into the middle of the second period before Penn State tallied a pair of goals within a three minute span to take 2-1 into the third period.
On the goals for Penn State, Kelsey Crow netted her second career goal on the power play and Laura Bowman tallied her 11th goal of the season.
Syracuse closed out the game with the game-tying goal with 2:42 left in the third period and connected on the game-winner with 6.9 seconds left in overtime.
In Saturday's contest, Syracuse got on the board just 56 seconds into the game. Syracuse held the 1-0 lead until Laura Bowman netted her 10th career power play goal with 9:47 left in the second period. The tie game did not last long as Syracuse tallied the eventual game-winner less than three minutes later.
SCHOOL RECORDS IN SIGHT
Last season, Laura Bowman set the single-season school record with 16 goals. Currently the junior has tallied 12 goals in 2015-16.
Against Syracuse on Feb. 6, Bowman netted her 38th career goal, which was also her 10th career power play goal. She ranks second behind Shannon Yoxheimer in career goals (39) and is tied for the program lead with Yoxheimer in power play goals (10).
MINNETONKA CONNECTION
Juniors Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen lead the team with 12 goals and 16 assists, respectively. Petersen has tallied an assist on eight Bowman goals this season. Petersen has netted three goals this season on assists from Bowman.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Victoria Samuelsson ranks 10th in the CHA in freshman scoring with 11 points (1g, 10a) and Hannah England ranks 15th with seven points (2g, 5a).
10 IN 9 FOR 9
Heading into the series against Lindenwood, junior Amy Petersen has netted 10 points (2g, 8a) over the past nine games, which included six points over a four-game span.
BACK-TO-BACK
For the first time in program history, the Nittany Lions tallied back-to-back shutouts against a Division I team. Penn State swept Union by a score of 3-0 in each game.
Penn State also recorded its first back-to-back overtime wins in program history. Penn State topped RIT 3-2 in OT on Jan. 16 and bested Robert Morris 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 22.
NCAA RANKINGS
Celine Whitlinger is sixth in save percentage (.943) and she ranks eighth in goals against average (1.64) in the NCAA this season.
SUTTON EXCELS ON THE POWER PLAY
Bella Sutton has netted two power play goals this season, which gives her seven in her career. The sophomore is tied for third all-time at Penn State in power play goals (Holdcroft). Bowman and Yoxheimer hold the program record with ten apiece.
STARTING OUT FAST
On Oct. 9, 2015, against No. 7/8 BU, Laura Bowman scored 43 seconds into the game, which is three seconds shy of tying the program record for the fastest goal to start a game. The record, held by Bowman, was set on Oct. 26, 2013, against New Hampshire.
100 GAMES
Six Nittany Lions have eclipsed the century mark in games played this season.
In the season-opener against Minnesota, Jill Holdcroft became the seventh Nittany Lion to skate in 100 career games and Micayla Catanzariti became the eighth Nittany Lion to post 100 games played on Oct. 31.
Laura Bowman, Sarah Nielsen and Amy Petersen each skated in their 100th game against RIT on Jan. 29.
Kelly Seward is the 12th Nittany Lion to skate in 100 games. Seward, a junior, posted 100 games played on Feb. 6 against Syracuse.
ALL-TIME SAVES RECORD
Celine Whitlinger captured the all-time Penn State women's hockey saves record Friday, Oct. 30, at Lindenwood. Nicole Paniccia held the previous Nittany Lion all-time saves record with 1,801.
NITTANY LION ATTACK
The Nittany Lions have tallied at least five goals in a game twice this season. The two five-goal outings are the 10th and 11th in program history.
CHA HONORS
Four Nittany Lions have garnered weekly or monthly CHA honors this season.
Ehresmann was named the CHA Goalie of the Week after tallying 74 saves in the series against the No. 10 Princeton Tigers Dec. 11-12. Ehresmann made 38 saves in Friday's game and recorded 36 saves in the series finale.
Petersen was named the CHA Player of Week for the first time in her career after the Robert Morris series Jan. 22-23. In the series, Petersen tallied a team-leading four points on one goal and three assists. In Friday's 3-2 overtime win, Petersen dished out two assists and in Saturday's 2-2 tie, Petersen scored her fourth goal of the season and dished out her team-leading 13th assist of the 2015-16 season.
Samuelsson has been named the CHA Rookie of the Week twice this season. In the Union series, Samuelsson dished out two assists Saturday night and added one more in Sunday's game. Samuelsson was also named the CHA Rookie of the Week following the Robert Morris series Jan. 22-23. In the series, Samuelsson tallied her ninth assist of the season.
Whitlinger has been named the CHA Goalie of the Week twice in the 2015-16 season. Whitlinger tallied 41 saves against the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers for the first plaudit and made 65 saves in a weekend series against Robert Morris for the second award. For the third time as a Nittany Lion, Whitlinger was named the CHA Goalie for the Month for October. In the month of October, Whitlinger made 158 saves, tallied a goals against average of 1.66 and posted a save percentage of .940.
NEXT TIME OUT
The 2015-16 Penn State women's hockey regular season comes to a close next weekend in Erie, Pa., against Mercyhurst. Puck drop is set for Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.