BOSTON, Mass. – The Penn State women's hockey team played one of its finest defensive games of the season and secured a 1-0 shutout victory over (RV) Boston University at BU's Walter Brown Arena Monday afternoon.
Jenna Brenneman picked up her third shutout of the season for the Nittany Lions behind a stellar 29-save performance with 13 of her biggest saves coming in the third period.
Shea Nelson scored the only goal the Nittany Lions (8-9-3) needed at 8:57 in the first period, her fourth of the season. Natalie Heising and Meike Meilleur picked up assists.
BU netminder Kate Stuart did all she could for the Terriers (8-5-5) by stopping 33 shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Period
- Penn State put pressure on Boston early by registering the first six shots on goal and did not allow a BU shot on target until over eight minutes into the frame.
- The Nittany Lions finally took advantage of their extended play in the offensive zone at 8:57. Meilleur and Heising each had tries on goal before Nelson swooped in and chipped the puck past Stuart for her fourth of the season. Kelsey Crow made the initial play in the neutral zone by stopping the puck in midair and moving it to the forwards rushing towards BU's zone.
- Nelson nearly had her second goal of the period with a little over two minutes remaining after she made a nice effort on goal on the backhand that sailed just over the crossbar.
- Score at the end of the period: Penn State 1, Boston 0
- Shots on goal in the period: Penn State 11, Boston 7
2nd Period
- Amanda McLeod nearly gave the Nittany Lions a two-goal lead at 4:30 when she just missed the net on a two-on-one breakaway.
- A hooking call against BU's Sammy Davis gave the Nittany Lions the first power play chance of the game. Penn State had three shots on the advantage but did not score.
- Penn State continued to come up with good scoring opportunities, notably two back-to-back shots from Sophie Slattery, another shot from Nelson, and a Brooke Madsen one-timer that were all stopped by Stuart.
- Score at the end of the period: Penn State 1, Boston 0
- Shots on goal in the period: Penn State 14, Boston 9
3rd Period
- The final period saw an exchange of power plays for both teams, as Boston had two power plays while the Nittany Lions had three power plays. BU had maybe its best chance to tie the game on a power play at 13:36. The Nittany Lions came up with three huge shot blocks on the penalty kill before the Terriers cut their power play short at 15:07 with another penalty of their own.
- Penn State was given another power play with 2:06 remaining but ended up playing mostly in its own end as BU pulled Stuart to have five skaters on the ice. Brenneman made four saves in the final moments to secure the shutout win.
- Score at the end of the period: Penn State 1, Boston 0
- Shots on goal in the period: Penn State 9, Boston 13
POSTGAME QUOTES
Coach Kampersal
- "I thought we played with a lot of determination and grit today. That's one of the best performances we've had in the second game of a back-to-back, especially against a quality opponent like BU. We're pretty happy to get that win today."
Shea Nelson
- On her goal: "I knew that if I crashed the net, I'd have a good chance. Crow made a nice play to keep it in and when Meike and Natalie made a play towards the net, I knew it was where I needed to go. I scored a goal like that earlier this season against Syracuse so being able to finish a play like that again is nice."
- On playing center: "I played center all my life before coming to Penn State so it was a neat experience. There's a lot more responsibility in the d-zone playing center so I was a bit nervous about that, but it was really rewarding to have a little bit more freedom on the ice."
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions are now 6-3-3 in nonconference play with just two nonconference games left (Jan. 8 vs. Cornell and Jan. 29 at Princeton). Penn State's six wins outside the CHA are the most in a season since 2015-16 and trails only the 2014-15 squad which had eight nonconference victories.
- With the win, Penn State improves to 5-0-1 after leading after the first period and 8-1-1 when leading after two periods.
- While Nelson's first period goal continues to add to her career-high total this season, it also adds to her career-high point total, now at seven points this year.
- Meilleur had a team-leading five shots on goal in addition to her secondary assist, her first point since Nov. 16 at RPI.
- Christi Vetter became the 21st Nittany Lion to play in 100 career games, joining current teammates Meilleur and Kelsey Crow in the 100-game club.
- The Nittany Lions had 18 blocked shots with 12 different players registering blocks. Loli Fidler led the team with three.
- PSU is now 2-1-1 in its last four games coming back from the mid-season holiday break. The Nittany Lions split two games with #6 Ohio State in Columbus last season.
- Penn State returns to Pegula Ice Arena for its next game Tuesday, Jan. 8 versus #4 Cornell. Game time is set for 6 p.m.