Feb. 16, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team (8-17-5, 7-7-2 CHA) heads to No. 8 Robert Morris (19-3-6, 12-2-2 CHA) for its final road trip of the 2016-17 regular season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, inside the 84 Lumber Arena.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and video courtesy of Robert Morris. Live stats are free, but fans must have an account to watch the stream.
SCOUTING ROBERT MORRIS
Robert Morris enters the weekend ranked No. 8 in both major polls. The Colonials captured a series sweep of RIT last weekend pushing their overall record to 19-3-6 and to 12-2-2 in CHA play.
With four games left in CHA play and 26 points in hand, Robert Morris has clinched a first round bye in the CHA Tournament. Robert Morris leads second-place Syracuse by four points.
Offensively, Robert Morris is led by junior Brittany Howard and freshman Jaycee Gebhard. On the year, Howard is tied for sixth in the nation in points (18-27--45), and Gebhard is tied for 12th in the nation in points (19-20--39).
As a freshman, Gebhard leads the nation in goals (19), assists (20), and points (39). On the year, Gebhard has tallied at least one point in 22 of 28 games.
In net for the Colonials, senior Jessica Dodds has a record of 11-1-5, a save percentage of .922, a goals against average of 2.07, and has recorded 426 saves.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ROBERT MORRIS
Robert Morris leads the all-time series against Penn State, 13-3-2. Earlier this season, Robert Morris topped Penn State, 4-2 and 6-5, inside the Pegula Ice Arena back in December.
Laura Bowman holds the program record in points against Robert Morris with 12 (7-5--12), while Amy Petersen ranks second in all-time points with nine (4-5--9).
LAST TIME OUT: LINDENWOOD
The Nittany Lions continue their road trip at No. 8 Robert Morris following a series sweep of Lindenwood in Wentzville, Mo., last weekend.
The Blue & White picked up a 4-1 victory in the series opener and closed out the weekend with a 2-0 shutout win.
In the series opener, Laura Bowman tallied a two-goal game, while Amy Petersen recorded a two-assist outing.
In the series finale, netminder Hannah Ehresmann recorded a 41-save performance en route to the shutout victory and Petersen netted her 13th goal of the season for her 99th career point.
CHA STANDINGS
With four games left in the regular season, Robert Morris leads the conference in points with 26, followed by Syracuse (22), Penn State (16), and Mercyhurst (15). RIT is currently in fifth-place with 10 points and Lindenwood is in sixth-place with seven points.
CHA TOURNAMENT INFO
Ticket information and times have officially been announced for the 2017 CHA Tournament.
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.
Tickets can officially be purchased online through the KeyBank Arena Box Office.
Full tournament packages are available for adults and are $25. Single-session tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students with a valid ID and children.
Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. each day with the second session of the first two days slated for 60 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
ECLIPSING THE CENTURY MARK
On Jan. 28, Laura Bowman recorded a two-assist performance to become the first Nittany Lion in program history to tally 100 career points.
Her second assist of the game came on an Amy Petersen goal during the third period of play. Bowman now has 60 goals and 42 assists to her name while donning the Blue & White.
Petersen is closing in on 100 career points as she has 99 career points on 37 goals and 62 assists.
Junior defenseman Bella Sutton is two 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 15th in goals (17), is tied for 69th in assists (13), is tied for 26th in points (17-13--30), is tied for eighth in shots on goal (138) and is fifth in faceoff wins (348).
Amy Petersen is tied for 35th in goals (13), is tied for 48th in assists (15), is tied for 31st in points (13-15--28), is tied for fifth in short-handed goals (two) and is sixth in shot percentage (.197).
Brooke Madsen is tied for 11th among freshmen, and is tied for 69th, in assists (13). She is also 14th in points among freshmen with 19 (6-13--19).
As a team, the Nittany Lions are tied for 10th in the nation in power play goals scored with 21 and their power play percentage of 16.2 is tied for 12th in the nation.
OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Compared to last season after 30 games, the 2016-17 Nittany Lions are +17 in goals for, +9 in power play goals and +47 in points.
On the year, the Nittany Lions have netted 178 points, 69 goals, 109 assists, and 21 power play goals.
With four games left in the regular season, Penn State has already set a program-record for points in a season (178), and assists in a season (109).
The Nittany Lions are currently recording program-best numbers in points per game (5.93), goals per game (2.30), assists per game (3.63), and shots per game (25.37).
The 2014-15 season featured the Nittany Lions tally program-best numbers in goals scored (72) and power play goals scored (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 scored in a single season.
During the 2012-13 season, Shannon Yoxheimer tallied a program-record 31 points on 14 goals and 17 assists and then in 2014-15, Bowman netted 31 points on 16 goals and 15 assists.
Bowman recently tied the program-record for goals scored in a season on Feb. 10 with her 17th goal of the year.
In 28 games played this season, Bowman has 30 points on 17 goals and 13 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 eight 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 11 individuals to tally at least two hat tricks this season.
CHA HONORS
On the year, six Nittany Lions have combined for 10 CHA weekly 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.
Following a pair of victories at Lindenwood, junior netminder Hannah Ehresmann was tabbed the CHA Goalie of the Week on Feb. 13.
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.
BOWMAN FROM PETERSEN
During the 2016-17 season, Amy Petersen has assisted on nine Laura Bowman goals. Last season, Petersen recorded an assist on 12 Bowman goals.
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.
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.
NITTANY LIONS LIVE ON BTN
The Penn State women's hockey team will host Syracuse on Feb. 24 live on the Big Ten Network. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. inside the Pegula Ice Arena.
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 host Syracuse, Feb. 24-25, for their final series of the 2016-17 regular season. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. Friday's game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.