UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State junior goaltender Chantal Burke set a program single-season record with her fifth shutout of the season and the Nittany Lions scored once in each period in a sound 3-0 nonconference victory over New Hampshire at Pegula Ice Arena Friday afternoon.
Penn State (7-8-4, 2-3-1 CHA) needed only one goal for Burke's 29-save shutout, but ended up getting three from Abby Welch, Natalie Heising, and Brooke Madsen to come out on top.
"We're definitely happy to get a win coming off break against a good New Hampshire team who is very well coached and have some very speedy players and they play a solid system, so it was a nice win for us," said coach Jeff Kampersal. "I thought we started off pretty well. It was a little up and down in the first. We got that second goal on that power play goal. Natalie [Heising] made a sweet snipe, and it got away from us a little bit...[but] in the third period we cleaned it up and played good Penn State hockey. We did a good job of stopping them on the blue line, back pressuring and our defense stepping up and making good plays, and if they were to break through Chantal [Burke] did a good job."
New Hampshire dropped to 9-8-2 with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
New Hampshire held most of the puck possession in the opening minutes of the game, but Penn State cashed in on one crucial Wildcat turnover in their defensive end to take the advantage.
Abby Welch swooped in and stole an errant pass and scored on Ava Thewes one-on-one at 11:10 in the opening frame to give Penn State the 1-0 lead.
Abby said, "gimme that, it belongs in the back of the net." (probably 🤷♀️)#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/fZ7hLop3WX
— Penn State Women's Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) January 3, 2020
Her unassisted goal was her third of the season and the 14th of her career. Penn State went into the first intermission leading 10-6 in shots on goal after trailing 6-3 before Welch's score.
The Nittany Lions were opportunistic once again the second period to double their lead. After killing the first penalty of the game at 5:38, Penn State went to its own power play at 8:25.
After cycling the puck through the zone, Izzy Heminger passed to Amy Dobson in the right circle who connected on a stellar cross-ice pass to Heising in the left circle. Heising's wrist shot went just under the crossbar for Penn State's second of the game.
Check out the nice cross-ice saucer pass from Dobson to Heising to give Penn State a two-goal edge! 🤩#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/947hV7bwot
— Penn State Women's Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) January 3, 2020
Burke made several solid saves in the period, including a couple stretching out with her left leg pad to keep New Hampshire off the board despite the Wildcats' 14-7 shots on goal advantage in the second.
The Nittany Lions then cashed in another goal to go up by three at even strength at the 7:47 mark in the third period. After stealing the puck at the blue line, Shea Nelson put a shot on net that was saved by Thewes, but Brooke Madsen batted in the rebound for her sixth of the season.
Brooke Madsen rebounds Shea Nelson's original shot for her sixth goal of the season! 💰#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/7r0rsjpM0s
— Penn State Women's Hockey (@PennStateWHKY) January 3, 2020
After a Penn State penalty with 7:59 to play, New Hampshire appeared to have cut into the lead on the power play after Meghara McManus deflected in a shot from the point with 7:28 on the clock, but after a lengthy review, it was deemed to be put in the net on a high stick and the goal call was reversed.
Burke made all the stops she needed from there, nine saves total in the final 20 minutes, to preserve the 3-0 shutout win for the Nittany Lions.
GAME NOTES
- Burke's fifth shutout comes in just her seventh career win and in only her 13th career start. She surpassed Jenna Brenneman (2018-19) and Celine Whitlinger (2015-16) to set the new record. Burke is also tied for the national lead for shutouts this season with Minnesota's Sydney Scobee.
- Burke now ranks second in program history for career shutouts, just two behind Hannah Ehresmann (2014-18) and Whitlinger (2012-16).
- Burke's goals-against average improves to a stellar 1.55, which ranks seventh in the nation and remains the CHA's best mark this season. She tops the conference and ranks sixth national with a .938 save percentage.
- Abby Welch now has three goals in the last five games.
- Natalie Heising extends her program-best power-play record to 16 goals. With 41 career goals, she is now just one behind Shannon Yoxenheimer for the second-most goals in program history.
- Madsen leads the team with 12 points on the season (6G, 6A) and ranks fourth in program history with 64 points. She has six points (2G, 4A) in her last seven games.
- Penn State wraps up its series with the Wildcats and its nonconference schedule Saturday at 2 p.m.