MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Penn State women's hockey surged late in the third period but couldn't quite complete a road comeback in a 3-2 loss to Robert Morris in Friday evening's CHA matchup at Colonials Arena in the RMU Island Sports Center.
The loss drops the Nittany Lions to 7-8-2 overall and 2-5 in league play. Robert Morris improved to 7-8-4 and 5-1-1 in CHA games.
Natalie Heising scored her tenth goal of the season on the power play in the second period for the Nittany Lions. Abby Welch added her third goal of the season in the final seconds of the game.
Robert Morris' Jaycee Gebhard and Amber Rennie tallied scores to pace the Colonials. Wasyn Rice also netted her first career goal in the second period.
Jenna Brenneman made several big saves to keep the Nittany Lions in the game and finished with 29 stops. Her counterpart Lauren Bailey also played solid, especially in the third period, and made 31 stops for the evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Robert Morris came out hot in the first period and had the game's first goal to show for it. Rennie scored at even strength 8:30 into the frame with assists from Gebhard and Lexi Templeman.
The Colonials fired 16 shots on goal while holding the Nittany Lions to just seven in the frame. They also had the significant advantage in the face off circle 16-7.
Robert Morris continued to push forward in the second period and doubled its lead at 6:07. Rice lasered a shot from the point for her first career goal. Maggie Lague and Natalie Marcuzzi picked up assists on the play.
Penn State had come up empty on its first two power play chances in the first period, but a goal on the advantage at 9:15 by Heising put them right back in the game.
Heising received a pass from Katie McMillan in the left circle and was able to sneak a shot through the goaltender Bailey's equipment for her third power play marker of the season.
The Nittany Lion penalty kill had done its job up to this point in keeping the potent Colonial power play off the board, but RMU finally broke through with a power-play goal of its own to take a 3-1 lead at 12:04.
Gebhard netted her CHA-leading 11th score of the season after a nice passing sequence that gave her just enough shooting space in the slot. Templeman and Lague earned their second assists of the game on the goal.
The Nittany Lions looked their best in the third period and had nearly converted on several opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net. Penn State fired 14 shots on goal, with many of those being solid scoring chances, while holding RMU to just six shots in the frame.
Penn State pulled Brenneman with a little over two minutes remaining and had a two-player advantage after an RMU penalty. Soon after the power play expired, Welch scored to make it 3-2 on a mad scramble in front of Bailey, but there was less than a second remaining and not enough time to mount another surge for the Nittany Lions.
GAME NOTES
- Natalie Heising now has back-to-back seasons with double-digit goals, becoming the fourth Nittany Lion in program history to score at least ten goals in two seasons (Shannon Yoxenheimer, Amy Petersen, Laura Bowman)
- Heising's 13 career power-play goals ranks second in program history only behind Bowman's 14.
- Brooke Madsen and Kelsey Crow each led the team with 10 shot attempts. Madsen topped the team with seven that went on goal.
- Crow led the Nittany Lions with three blocked shots.
- Penn State finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play. Robert Morris went 1-for-4.
Both teams face off again tomorrow starting at 5:05. The game will be the last for Penn State until Dec. 30.