UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania – The Penn State women's hockey team concludes its 2018-19 home schedule with its final two-game series against in-state rival Mercyhurst this weekend, Feb. 15-16, at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Mercyhurst (12-12-3, 9-5-0) vs. Penn State (10-12-6, 4-8-2)
Dates: Friday, February 15 | Saturday, February 16
Times: 6 p.m. | 3 p.m.
Place: Pegula Ice Arena
Tickets: TicketMaster
Watch (Subscription required): BTN-Plus (Game 1) | BTN-Plus (Game 2)
Statistics: Live Statistics (Both games)
SENIOR DAY
Saturday's game will be Penn State's senior day as its three seniors will be honored in their final game played at Pegula Ice Arena. Kelsey Crow, Christi Vetter, and Meike Meilleur have combined to play 345 games in a Nittany Lion sweater.
Senior Career Statistics:
Crow: 114 games played, 10 goals scored, 31 assists, 41 points
Vetter: 108 games played, eight goals scored, five assists, 13 points
Meilleur: 123 games played, 17 goals scored, 17 assists, 34 points
After Saturday's game, Penn State will host its final postgame skate of the season. Skate rental is available for free at Pegula.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.07 – Penn State's 2.07 goals against average ranks first in College Hockey America. The Nittany Lions have allowed the fewest goals in the conference at 58, six less than the next closest (RMU, 64).
19.4 – The Nittany Lions also sport the CHA's second-best power play unit at 1.94% (19-98). A staple of recent Penn State teams, the Nittany Lions have also been spent the least amount of time on the penalty kill among all CHA teams this season with 207 penalty minutes (RMU 2nd, 226).
22 – The Nittany Lions have been involved in 22 overtime games over the last two seasons, which is the highest mark among all teams in the nation over that span. That includes seven OT periods this season.
GETTING OUT IN FRONT
Penn State has had its greatest success this season when scoring the first goal and leading after the first period in games this season. The Nittany Lions record is 8-2-3 overall when scoring the first goal of the game and Penn State is also unbeaten when leading after one period of play at 6-0-1. Penn State is also 9-1-2 when carrying a lead into the second period.
SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst currently sits in second place in the CHA Standings with 18 points, trailing only Robert Morris (22). Last weekend, the Lakers dropped a pair of home games against Syracuse 6-5 and 4-0, allowing the Orange to move within one point of the Lakers in the standings.
Mercyhurst is led in scoring by junior forward Emma Nuutinen who is the Lakers' lone player with double digit goals this season (14). She also has 10 assists, four power play goals, and two short-handed goals. Junior forward Maggie Knott has 16 assists and 19 points while sophomore forward Alexa Vasko has nine goals with 15 points.
Goaltender Sarah McDonnell and Kennedy Blair have split time in goal this year for the Lakers. McDonnell holds an impressive 10-3-1 record and a 2.25 GAA, while Blair is 2-8-2 with a 3.60 GAA.
NEXT UP
Penn State has four-straight conference road games to conclude the regular season, starting with a trip to Rochester, N.Y. to face RIT Feb. 22-23.
For the latest updates on Penn State women's ice hockey, follow @PennStateWHKY on Twitter, "like" the Penn State Women's Ice Hockey page on Facebook, and follow @pennstatewhky on Instagram.
