Oct. 13, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team dropped its series opener against the defending NCAA Champion Clarkson Golden Knights by a 2-0 decision Friday night at the Pegula Ice Arena.
"This is our fifth game and I thought it was our best game," head coach Jeff Kampersal said. "[Tonight's game was] similar probably to our first game against Minnesota Duluth...As far as habits, and the many concepts we work on in practice, they followed through today. So Coach Brown and I are really proud of them. They did a really good job."
Following Friday's contest, Penn State falls to 1-3-1 on the year, while No. 2 Clarkson improves to 4-0-1 in 2017-18.
After a scoreless first 10 minutes of action, Clarkson netted its first goal of the evening at 11:15 into the first period on Loren Gabel's third goal of the season. The two teams went into the first intermission with Clarkson leading Penn State, 1-0, and outshooting the Nittany Lions, 11-7.
The second period featured a scoreless twenty minutes of action as Clarkson went 0-for-2 on the power play and Penn State went 0-for-1 with the man-advantage.
It only took 27 seconds for the Golden Knights to add to their lead in the third period, as Elizabeth Giguere netted her third goal of the 2017-18 season to put Clarkson up 2-0. During the final 20 minutes of regulation, each team went 0-for-1 on the power play.
Looking to cut into the Golden Knight lead late in the game, Penn State pulled goaltender Daniela Paniccia (Oakville, Ontario) in favor of the extra attacker, but was unable to get a shot past Clarkson goaltender Shea Tiley.
In net, Paniccia finished the evening with 21 saves, while Tiley recorded an 18-save outing for the Golden Knights.
The two teams close out the series on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. Following Saturday's contest fans in attendance are encouraged to attend a free post-game skate with the team.
NOTES: Clarkson leads the all-time series against Penn State, 3-0-0...Clarkson outshot Penn State, 23-18...Penn State went 0-for-2 on the power play, while Clarkson went 0-for-3.