UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 8/9 Penn State women's hockey team hosts Robert Morris in a battle of the CHA's two top teams this weekend, Jan. 5-6, at Pegula Ice Arena.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, Jan. 5 | Saturday, Jan. 6
Times: 6 p.m. | 2 p.m.
BTN+: Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats: Both games
Game Notes: Penn State Game Notes
THE MATCHUP
Robert Morris leads the all-time series 23-6-7, but the recent matchups have swung in Penn State' s favor. Both teams started the 2021 portion of the schedule Jan 8-9 against each other at Robert Morris and Penn State won both games. With the Nittany Lions' 3-2 and 4-1 wins, Penn State became the first team to sweep Robert Morris in Pittsburgh in a two-game series since RIT back in Jan. 2013.
In PSU's 3-2 Jan. 8, the Nittany Lions mustered a strong third period starting with a go-ahead goal from Rachel Weiss to make it 2-1, followed by a critical insurance goal from Julie Gough after a beautiful feed from Carrie Byrnes.
Jessica Adolfsson's powerful shot made the biggest difference in game two's 4-1 win for PSU. She scored twice in the second period (1 on PP) to extend Penn State's lead to 3-1 and put the Nittany Lions in a position to suffocate RMU's high-powered offense.
LIGHTING UP THE SCORESHEET
Penn State scored six goals in last Friday's (Jan. 29) win at Lindenwood, including a career-best two-goal, three-point game from Rachel Weiss. Four other Nittany Lions found the back of the net in that game as well.
In addition, Julie Gough has amassed a career-best four-game point streak (1G, 4A) to push her season point total to nine in 12 games this season.
Freshman Alyssa Machado became the latest Penn State rookie to score her first career goal with her score Jan. 29 in just her third game of the season. She also picked up an assist the following day.
SOME MORE JOSIE FOR YA
Freshman goaltender Josie Bothun improved to 9-1-2 on the season with a 1-0-1 weekend. She leads the CHA with her nine wins and ranks second in the league with a 1.56 GAA and .944 save percentage.
In PSU's 2-2 tie with Lindenwood Jan. 30, Bothun made 23 saves, including two saves on Lindenwood breakaways with one coming in overtime, to preserve the draw for Penn State.
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.
