Jan. 10, 2013

Game Notes | Live Video ($) | Live Stats | Yearbook

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Nittany Lion women's hockey team travels to Union for a two-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on UnionAthletics.tv ($) and UnionAthletics.com will have live stats. The weekend concludes Saturday at 4 p.m.

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (7-12-1, 1-8-1 CHA) vs. UNION DUTCHWOMEN (5-11-3, 0-7-3 ECAC)
Games 21-22: Jan. 11-12, 2013 // 7 p.m. & 4 p.m. // Messa Ice Rink // Schenectady, N.Y.

GAME DAY
VENUE: Messa Ice Rink (2,220)
STREAMING COVERAGE: UnionAthletics.TV Video ($)
SERIES RECORD: 0-0-0
LAST VARSITY MEETING: n/a, First Meeting, Jan. 11
NEXT SERIES: Jan. 25-26 at Syracuse

GAME NOTES
• Penn State journeys to ECAC Hockey foe Union for a two-game series
• Nittany Lions and Dutchwomen have not met in women's hockey
• PSU coming off weekend sweep of Chatham, 10-0 and 4-0
• Every Nittany Lion played last weekend, out-shooting Chatham 119-33
• Union fell to No. 4 Harvard (9-0) and Dartmouth (6-0) last weekend
• Hannah Hoenshell was named CHA Rookie of the Week on Monday
• Director of Ops Mo Stroemel was tapped to lead USA Hockey's University Team

SCOUTING THE DUTCHWOMEN
Last weekend, Union (5-9-3, 0-5-3 ECAC) were shut out 9-0 by No. 4 Harvard and 6-0 by Dartmouth. Despite the setbacks, the Dutchwomen are enjoying their best season in Division I, already matching their program-best mark for wins (5) through 17 games. Union joined Division I in 2003-04 and went 4-26-4 overall with a 2-18-2 ECAC Hockey mark.

Goaltender Shenae Lundberg (4-6-3) has held steady between the pipes, posting a 2.49 GAA and .917 save percentage. Alana Marcinko (1-3-0, 4.82 GAA, .864) backs Lundberg.

On offense, Christine Valente leads all Dutchwomen with 10 points on five goals and five assists, while Courtney Turner has nine points with four goals and five assists. Out of the 19 Union players to play five or more games, 18 have tallied a point. Stephanie Thomson has a plus-1 rating to lead the team on two goals and five assists.

The two teams have never met before and have had two common opponents: Syracuse and St. Lawrence. PSU went 0-4-0, while Union is 1-3-0 against those teams.

PENN STATE SWEEPS CHATHAM
The Nittany Lions trounced an overmatched Chatham team on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 4-5, winning 10-0 and 4-0. The weekend saw every Nittany Lion see ice time as PSU out-shot Chatham 119-33, scoring 14 times, tallying 22 assists, 36 points and a plus-65 rating. Additionally, Penn State posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time in the young history of the program.

In Friday's game, Penn State scored five in the first, four in the second and added one more for the 10 spot. Shannon Yoxheimer scored the first two goals of the game and Hannah Hoenshell tallied a school-record four points as Penn State eased by the Division III Cougars.

Penn State set new records for most goals in a game (10), most goals in a period (5, in the first) and most assists in a game (17). Hoenshell tallied a two-goal, two-assist effort, while Jeanette Bateman became the first Nittany Lion to register three assists. Jordin Pardoski added a three-point game of her own behind a goal and two assists to celebrate her 19th birthday.

The game also featured a couple of firsts as Tess Weaver scored her first varsity goal at the end of the first period and freshman Darby Kern notched her first point on an assist in the first period. In all, 15 Nittany Lions earned a point.

Kendra Rasmussen tallied her first multi-goal game of her career and Jill Holdcroft tallied two points on a goal and an assist. In all, 16 of 18 Nittany Lion skaters tallied a point.

The goaltending trio of Nicole Paniccia, Celine Whitlinger and Brooke Meyer combined for Penn State's second shutout of the year. Paniccia and Meyer made six stops, while Whitlinger saved five.

On Saturday, Junior assistant captain Jenna Welch scored twice and linemate Katie Zinn posted three points behind her first collegiate goal and two assists.

Penn State out-shot Chatham, 71-16, peppering the Cougar net. Zinn scored the opening goal in the first, Welch doubled the lead in the second and added another in the third before Holdcroft finished off the scoring. Paige Jahnke had two helpers and Madison Smiddy added her sixth assist of the season in the game.

Whitlinger won her first collegiate game with 12 saves in 52:34 of game time. Meyer polished off the shutout with four stops in the final 7:26.

HOENSHELL EARNS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman forward Hannah Hoenshell collected College Hockey America Rookie of the Week laurels, the conference office announced Monday. The award is the first of her career for the Plano, Texas, native, who tallied four points on a pair of goals and assists in a 10-0 win over Chatham Jan. 4.

STROEMEL TO LEAD USA UNIVERSITY TEAM
Penn State women's hockey director of operations and video coach Mo Stroemel will lead the 2013 U.S. Women's National University Team at the 2013 World University Games in Italy. Stroemel was also in charge of the inaugural 2011 team that placed fourth in Turkey. Stroemel's 2011 squad featured current Nittany Lion assistant captain Lindsay Reihl and current equipment manager Graham Pepperman.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
The Nittany Lions travel to New York for the second straight road trip after a visit to Canton, N.Y. to face St. Lawrence (Dec. 7-8). In all, Penn State will make at least four trips to the State of New York including future trips to CHA rivals Syracuse (Jan. 25-26) and RIT (Feb. 15-16). Penn State could potentially make a fifth trip depend on seeding for the 2013 CHA Tournament.

SAINTS ESCAPE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State battled St. Lawrence Friday night (Dec. 7), but ultimately fell to the Saints, 3-1, on the road in Canton, N.Y. Freshman Jill Holdcroft netted her fifth goal of the season on a power play in the second period, but St. Lawrence responded with a two-goal final frame to put away the Nittany Lions. Celine Whitlinger, in her third start of the season, denied a career-high 45 shots in goal, besting her previous record of 40 set against Vermont Oct. 7. Whitlinger was aided by a stingy Nittany Lion defense that totaled 17 blocked shots to hold St. Lawrence to just a pair of goals before an empty-netter sealed the final score at 3-1. Jenna Welch led the way by getting in front of three attempts.

On Saturday, Dec. 8, Penn State pulled within one late in the third period, but could not complete the comeback against St. Lawrence as the Saints skated to a 4-2 victory to earn the series sweep. Jess Desorcie scored early, assisted by Taylor Gross and Shannon Yoxheimer for a 1-0 lead. Down 3-1, Hanna Hoenshell scored her fifth of the season midway through the third period. SLU managed a power-play goal with less than two minutes to play for the 4-2 final. Nicole Paniccia made 54 saves in goal for the Lions.

WHITLINGER NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman netminder Celine Whitlinger's career night at St. Lawrence on Friday, Dec. 7, translated into her first collegiate honor: College Hockey America Rookie of the Week. Whitlinger earned Penn State's second CHA Rookie of the Week this season after Micayla Catanzariti's honor on Oct. 8.

Whitlinger made stop after stop on as the Nittany Lions looked to upset established St. Lawrence. The California native posted 45 saves in all as Penn State fell 3-1. St. Lawrence went to the NCAA Tournament last season and is among the best teams in the ECAC Hockey.

The rest of the game notes can be found in the PDF document.

PEGULA ICE ARENA ON SCHEDULE
Pegula Ice Arena, a $90 million state-of-the-art facility, will serve as the home of the Penn State hockey programs in 2012-13. As of Jan. 10, 2013, all the steel has been put in place for the project with installation of glass and some brick on the outside. Additionally, portions of the center-hung scoreboard have been assembled.

The building held its official topping off ceremony on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. Construction is set to conclude in time for the 2012-13 season as the building will open Sept. 5, 2013.

Pegula Ice Arena Video Tour

For more information on Pegula Ice Arena, visit page 12 of the game notes.

NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State takes next weekend off before traveling to Syracuse for a two-game set. Those games are set for Friday, Jan. 25 (7 p.m.) and Saturday, Jan. 26 (2 p.m.). The Nittany Lions return home on Tuesday, Jan. 29 vs. Princeton (7 p.m.), opening a five-game home stand.