Nov. 23, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's hockey team (2-7-6, 0-2-4 CHA) heads to Storrs, Conn., for the 2017 Nutmeg Classic at the Freitas Ice Forum. Penn State will play UConn (4-5-4, 0-4-3 WHEA) on Friday, Nov. 24, at 6 p.m. and then will either take on Quinnipiac (8-7-0, 4-4-0 ECAC) or Yale (2-6-2, 1-5-2) on Saturday, Nov. 25. The losers from Friday's games will play at 3 p.m. on Saturday, while the winners from Friday will play at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
FOLLOW ALONG
There will be a live stream only for Friday's game, but fans must have an account to access the video. Fans can also follow along with live stats via uconnhuskies.com.
LAST TIME OUT: CORNELL
Earlier this week, Penn State played to a 1-1 tie at No. 8 Cornell.
After the two teams played to a scoreless opening 20 minutes of action, Kelsey Crow netted her third power play goal of the season at 11:31 into the second period to put Penn State in front of Cornell, 1-0.
Cornell's Diana Buckley knotted up the contest with 1:28 to go in regulation sending the game into overtime.
Hannah Ehresmann finished the game with a 20-save outing.
LOOKING AT THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The 2017 Nutmeg Classic is comprised of Penn State, Quinnipiac, UConn, and Yale.
Quinnipiac is 8-7-0 on the year and 4-4-0 in ECAC action. Heading into the Nutmeg Classic, the Bobcats have won three of four games, which includes a 3-2 overtime win at No. 4 Clarkson on Nov. 17.
UConn is 4-5-4 on the season and 0-4-3 in WHEA play. The Huskies are coming off a loss (3-0) and a tie (3-3) against Boston College in a home-and-home series.
The Yale Bulldogs enter the tournament with an overall record of 2-6-2 and are 1-5-2 in ECAC play.
Yale has lost a pair of games to Colgate (5-1) and Cornell (3-0) heading into the tournament.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE FIELD
Against the field in the Nutmeg Classic Tournament, UConn leads the all-time series against Penn State, 3-0-1, while Quinnipiac leads the all-time series against Penn State, 4-0-1, and Yale and Penn State have never played.
PLAYING EXTRA TIME
Only 15 games into the 2017-18 season and Penn State has played to overtime eight times. The program record for overtime games in a season for Penn State is 10, which was set in 2015-16.
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Heading into the weekend, the duo of Natalie Heising and Katie Rankin have made their impact felt among the freshmen in the College Hockey America conference.
Among freshman in the CHA, Heising is first in shots (46), is tied for third in goals (three), is tied for second in points (five), is third in assists (five), and is fourth in faceoff wins (75).
Along with Heising, Rankin is first in faceoff wins (198), is second in shots (36), is tied for seventh in goals (two), is tied for ninth in assists (two), and is tied for 10th in points (four).
CHA HONORS
Penn State netminders Hannah Ehresmann and Daniela Paniccia opened the 2017-18 season with back-to-back College Hockey America Goalie of the Week honors.
In the season-opening series at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth, Ehresmann made 60 saves, which included a 38-save outing in the series finale. Ehresmann kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard in four of six periods during the two-game series.
A week later against Union, Paniccia made 24 saves, allowed only one goal, tallied a goals-against average of 0.71 and posted a save percentage of .960.
In addition to Ehresmann and Paniccia, freshman Natalie Heising brought home the CHA Rookie of the Month honor for Sept./Oct.
Among the CHA rookies after the first month of action, Heising ranked first in points (six), was tied for the lead in goals (three), ranked first in shots (32), was tied for second in assists (three), and was fifth in faceoff wins (49).
After netting a pair of goals in a 2-2 tie against Syracuse on Nov. 11, Sophie Slattery received the CHA Rookie of the Week honor.
NEW FACES
Along with the seven freshmen, the Penn State women's hockey program welcomes three new faces to Hockey Valley.
The Nittany Lion freshman class is comprised of Chantal Burke, Natalie Heising, Cam Leonard, Shea Nelson, Katie Rankin, Morgan Rolph, and Sophie Slattery.
Behind the bench, first-year head coach Jeff Kampersal brought on Celeste Brown and Allison Coomey to complete his coaching staff.
COACH KAMPERSAL
Jeff Kampersal brings more than 20 years of experience as a head coach to Hockey Valley.
Prior to joining the Nittany Lions during the summer of 2017, Coach Kampersal was the head coach of the Princeton Tigers for 21 seasons. During his tenure at Princeton, Coach Kampersal tallied a record of 327-261-58.
Heading into the 2017-18 season, Kampersal ranks fifth in career victories among active women's hockey coaches with 327, a total that ranks seventh all-time.
SMART LIONS
Seven members of the Penn State women's hockey program were named All-American Scholars for the 2016-17 season, as announced by American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).
Laura Bowman, Kelsey Crow, Katie McMillan, Amy Petersen, Kelly Seward, Bella Sutton, and Christi Vetter were among the 220 Division I-II student-athletes recognized by the AHCA.
HEISING WINS GOLD
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, 2017.
Heising, a forward from Maple Grove, Minn., was named one of Team USA's three top players of the tournament.
PRESEASON POLL
After finishing fourth in the 2016-17 College Hockey America (CHA) regular season standings, the Penn State women's hockey team was selected fourth in the 2017-18 CHA preseason poll.
WELCOME BACK
Penn State returns 17 letterwinners to the team for the 2017-18 season, including a pair of College Hockey America (CHA) All-Rookie Team honorees.
In their first year donning the Blue & White, Brooke Madsen and Katie McMillan made their presence felt throughout the season.
Madsen, a forward, played in all 35 games and netted 21 points (7g, 14a). Madsen's season was highlighted with a three-assist outing in an 8-1 victory at Union (10/7).
On the blueline, McMillan recorded 11 points on four goals and seven assists in 35 games played.
2017-18 CAPTAINS
Senior defenseman Bella Sutton will captain the 2017-18 Nittany Lions, while Kelsey Crow and Aly Hardy will serve as alternate captains.
Sutton holds the major scoring program records by a defenseman with 14 goals, 32 assists, and 46 points.
On the power play, Sutton ranks fourth all-time in points (27), fourth in goals (nine), and is third in assists (18).
Crow, a junior defenseman, served as an alternate captain last season. Crow ranks is tied for second in goals by a defenseman (eight), is fourth in points by a defenseman (16), and is tied for sixth in assists by a defenseman (eight).
Hardy, a senior forward, has played in 86 games and tallied 10 points on three goals and seven assists. Off the ice, Hardy serves as the vice president for the Penn State Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB).
THE 2017-18 SLATE
Penn State is slated to play 34 contests during the 2017-18 regular season, which includes 15 games at the Pegula Ice Arena.
The 2017-18 regular season is highlighted by a trip to Minnesota Duluth (Sept. 29-30), hosting defending NCAA Champion Clarkson (Oct. 13-14), two series against Robert Morris (Oct. 28-29 & Jan. 26-27), a trip to Ohio State (Jan. 5-6), and hosting Princeton (Jan. 30).
NEXT UP
Penn State closes out the fall semester with a pair of games at RIT on Dec. 1-2. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. at the Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester, N.Y.