Jan. 26, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team welcomes the Mercyhurst Lakers to the Pegula Ice Arena for a College Hockey America (CHA) weekend series. Puck drop between the Nittany Lions (6-15-5, 5-5-2 CHA) and the Lakers (8-16-2, 4-7-1 CHA) is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live video on BTN2Go.com, but must have an account to access the video. Live stats will be provided via GoPSUsports.com.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday's game is a Family 4-Pack game. For $30, fans can buy four tickets, four hot dogs and four soft drinks.
Friday's game is also a part of the Winter Weekend Warrior ticket package. Fans can attend Friday's women's hockey game, Saturday's men's basketball game and Sunday's women's basketball game, plus receive a Penn State scarf for $35.
Saturday is the team's annual Skate for the Cure game and anyone who wears pink will receive free admission to Saturday's game. The team will also be hosting a free post-game skate.
TICKET INFORMATION
Fans can purchase single game tickets, group tickets, and Family 4 Pack deals by calling 1-800-NITTANY. All ticket purchases can be made over the phone (1-800-NITTANY) or by visiting the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.).
SCOUTING MERCYHURST
The Mercyhurst Lakers are coming off a pair of overtime contests at home against No. 7 Robert Morris last weekend. After Mercyhurst forced overtime with the game-tying goal with 59.8 seconds left in regulation, the Robert Morris Colonials were able to outlast Mercyhurst 2-1 in the extra frame on Jan. 20. The two teams then closed out the series on Jan. 21 with a 3-3 overtime tie.
The Lakers head to Happy Valley with an overall record of 8-16-2 and a record of 4-7-1 in CHA action.
Earlier this month, Mercyhurst split a series with then-No. 4 St. Lawrence on Jan. 7-8 in Arlington, Va. Mercyhurst took the series opener, 5-2, before St. Lawrence captured a 3-2 victory in the series finale.
Junior Brooke Hartwick ranks fourth in the CHA standings in overall points with 23 (12-11--23). She also ranks fourth in goals scored (12) and is tied for ninth in assists (11). Along with Hartwick, senior Taylor Accursi ranks eighth among CHA leaders in points with 19 (7-12--19). Accursi is also tied for seventh in assists among the CHA leaders with 12.
In net for the Lakers, junior Jessica Convery has a record of 6-9-1, owns a save percentage of .913, has a goals against average of 2.03 and has made 366 saves. Convery's goals against average is the second-best among CHA netminders.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MERCYHURST
Mercyhurst leads the all-time series against the Nittany Lions, 13-3-2. Three of the last five meetings against Mercyhurst have gone into overtime with the Nittany Lions capturing a 3-2 overtime win at Mercyhurst on Nov. 5, 2016.
In Penn State's 3-2 OT win at Mercyhurst, Amy Petersen netted two goals, including the game-winner 31 seconds into the overtime period. The overtime win on Nov. 5 was the first win in OT since Jan. 22, 2016, when the Nittany Lions topped Robert Morris, 3-2. The win also marked the first victory for the Nittany Lions inside the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
Petersen leads the program in points against Mercyhurst with nine (5-4--9), while Laura Bowman ranks second with eight (5-3--8).
LAST TIME OUT: RIT
Last weekend, the Nittany Lions went 1-0-1 against the RIT Tigers inside the Pegula Ice Arena. In the series opener on Jan. 21, Penn State topped RIT, 3-0, behind three Nittany Lions each scoring once and junior Hannah Ehresmann stopping all 20 shots she faced.
Offensively, the Nittany Lions began the series opener with Meike Meilleur and Amanda McLeod each finding the back of the net within the first 9:06 of the game. Freshman Kate Rydland closed out the game for the Blue & White as she netted an empty net goal with 2:33 left in regulation.
In the series finale, the two teams battled to a 4-4 overtime tie after the Tigers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first period of play.
Trailing 4-0 heading into the third period, the Nittany Lions lit the lamp four times in a span of 15:39, which sent the game into overtime.
The third period of play featured Brooke Madsen and Victoria Samuelsson each tallying a goal and an assist, while Kelly Seward chipped in a pair of assists. Along with Madsen and Samuelsson, Laura Bowman and Kate Rydland each scored one goal. Bowman's goal with 57.1 seconds left in regulation forced the game into overtime. Ehresmann made 21 saves in 50:10 minutes of play.
CHA STANDINGS
With eight games left for each team heading into the final stretch of conference play, the top four teams in the CHA are separated by 11 points.
No. 7 Robert Morris leads the conference in points with 20, followed by Syracuse (18), Penn State (12) and Mercyhurst (9). Lindenwood is currently in fifth-place with seven points and RIT is in sixth-place with six points.
The 2017 CHA Tournament is scheduled for March 2-4 inside the HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, N.Y. The top two seeds will receive a bye in the CHA First Round, while the No. 3 seed takes on the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed plays the No. 5 seed. The lowest remaining seed will play the No. 1 seed during the CHA semifinal round.
NIELSEN NAMED HOCKEY HUMANITARIAN AWARD NOMINEE
Senior Sarah Nielsen has been nominated for the 2017 Hockey Humanitarian Award, as announced by the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Nielsen is one of 15 student-athletes, and one of five female student-athletes, nominated for the award. She joins David Goodwin of the Penn State men's hockey program on the nominee list.
ECLIPSING THE CENTURY MARK
Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen are both inching closer to becoming the first Nittany Lions in program history to eclipsing 100 career points. Bowman has 98 points on 58 goals and 40 assists, while Petersen has 93 points on 35 goals and 58 assists.
Junior defenseman Bella Sutton is four games shy of becoming the 13th Nittany Lion to skate in 100 career games.
AMONG THE BEST OF THE BEST
Among the nation's leaders heading into the weekend, Laura Bowman is tied for 10th in goals (15), is tied for 65th in assists (11), is tied for 24th in points (15-11--26), is sixth in shots on goal (118) and is third in faceoff wins (310).
Amy Petersen is tied for 32nd in goals (11), is tied for 65th in assists (11), is tied for 37th in points (11-11--22), is tied for fourth in short-handed goals (two) and is 12th in shot percentage (.190).
Brooke Madsen is tied for 10th among freshmen, and is tied for 49th, in assists (12). Madsen is also tied for 11th in points among freshmen with 17 (5-12--17).
As a team, the Nittany Lions are tied for seventh in the nation in power play goals scored with 19 and their power play percentage of 16.2 ranks 11th in the nation.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Compared to last season after 26 games, the 2016-17 Nittany Lions are +14 in goals for, +10 in power play goals and +41 in points.
Heading into the weekend, the Nittany Lion offense is closing in on program-best numbers. On the year, the Nittany Lions have netted 156 points, 60 goals, 96 assists and 19 power play goals.
The Nittany Lions are currently recording program-best numbers in points per game (6.00), goals per game (2.31), assists per game (3.69) and shots per game (25.62).
The 2014-15 season featured the Nittany Lions tally program-best numbers in goals (72) and power play goals (22). The 2012-13 season featured Penn State post program-best numbers in points (174) and assists (105).
Senior Laura Bowman is closing in on breaking the program record in points and goals in a single season. In 2014-15, Bowman netted 31 points on 16 goals and 15 assists, while Shannon Yoxheimer tallied 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists in 2012-13. The single-season record for a goals scored was set by Laura Bowman in 2015 (17). In 24 games played this season, Bowman has 26 points on 15 goals and 11 assists.
HAT, HAT, HAT TRICK
The Nittany Lions have tallied three hat tricks during the 2016-17 season, which included a pair of hat tricks in an 8-1 win over Union on Oct. 7. The Nittany Lions are one of seven teams to tally at least three hat tricks on the year.
Individually, Laura Bowman has recorded two hat tricks (Oct. 7 - Union & Dec. 4 - Robert Morris) and Amy Petersen has one hat trick on the year (Oct. 7 - Union). Bowman is one of nine individuals to tally at least two hat tricks this season.
CHA HONORS
On the year, five Nittany Lions have combined for nine weekly CHA awards and a pair of CHA monthly honors.
Senior Laura Bowman was named the CHA Player of the Week on Dec. 5 and garnered CHA Player of the Month honors for Sept./Oct.
Classmate Amy Petersen was named the CHA Player of the Week twice this season (Oct. 10 & Nov. 7).
Three Nittany Lion freshmen have been named CHA Rookie of the Week. Brooke Madsen (Oct. 10), Katie McMillan (Nov. 7) and Daniela Paniccia (Oct. 24) have received CHA Rookie of the Week honors this season.
Along with her CHA Rookie of the Week honors, Paniccia has been named the CHA Goalie of the Week three times (Oct. 31, Nov. 14 & Jan. 2) and the CHA Goalie of the Month for Sept./Oct.
BOWMAN FROM PETERSEN
During the 2016-17 season, Amy Petersen has assisted on seven Laura Bowman goals. Last season, Petersen recorded an assist on 12 Bowman goals.
FUTURE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State women's hockey head coach Josh Brandwene announced the signing of six future Penn State student-athletes to National Letters of Intent Wednesday, Nov. 16. Natalie Heising (Maple Grove, Minn.), Cam Leonard (Cary, N.C.), Shea Nelson (Evanston, Ill.), Katie Rankin (Kanata, Ontario), Morgan Rolph (Mitchell, Ontario) and Sophie Slattery (Edina, Minn.) will be on campus for the 2017-18 season.
HEISING WINS GOLD
Incoming Nittany Lion Natalie Heising and the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team defeated Canada, 3-1, to capture its third-straight IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship on Jan. 14. Heising, a forward from Maple Grove, Minn., was named one of Team USA's three top players of the tournament.
PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State women's hockey team was selected fourth in the CHA Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office Sept. 19.
2016-17 CAPTAINS
Laura Bowman was named the captain of the 2016-17 Nittany Lions, while Kelsey Crow and Amy Petersen were named alternate captains.
DYNAMIC DUO
Nittany Lion linemates Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen return to the Blue and White for their senior season in 2016-17. During their junior seasons, Bowman tallied 25 points (17g, 8a) and Petersen recorded a career-best 29 points (8g, 21a).
Last season, Petersen recorded an assist on 12 Bowman goals. Petersen closed out her junior year with 18 points over the final 16 games and Bowman ended the year with four-straight games with a goal.
2015-16 RECAP
The Nittany Lions finished the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 12-19-6 and a record of 6-8-6 in CHA play. Penn State finished third in CHA regular season standings, its best finish in program history.
Penn State tallied a record of 5-2-1 during the month of January last season.
In the first-ever meeting between the Nittany Lions and the Boston University Terriers, Penn State topped the No. 7/8 Terriers, 5-3, for its third win in program history over a ranked team.
In the all-time record books, Laura Bowman scored a single-season program-record 17 goals, she also tied a single-season program-best six power play goals scored and Amy Petersen recorded a single-season program-best 21 assists.
THE 2016-17 SLATE
The Nittany Lions will play 34 games over the course of the 2016-17 regular season, which includes 16 home games inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
The 2016-17 schedule features the 2014 NCAA champion Clarkson Golden Knights (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), the second-ever series against Boston University (Oct. 14-15), a home series against Ohio State (Jan. 6-7) and the Nittany Lions close out the regular season at home against Syracuse (Feb. 24-25).
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions do not compete next weekend and will return to the final stretch of league play on Feb. 10-11 at Lindenwood. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. (EST) inside the Lindenwood Ice Arena.