Penn State Ties Second Game in Intense OT Matchup with Mercyhurst

posted February 16, 2019 in CommRadio, Sports by Kevin McConlogue

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa- For the second consecutive day, the Penn State Nittany Lions (10-12-8, 4-8-4) tied with the Mercyhurst Lakers (12-12-5, 9-5-2) 2-2 on senior day Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena. Both the Nittany Lions and the Lakers came away with two points in this College Hockey America series.

It was a game that featured 13 penalties and 49 total penalty minutes, including some questionable calls on both teams.

“It’s tough to tell exactly what a penalty is and isn’t at this point,” Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal said. “Our kids are working their tail off, but we need to take it one extra stride to correct the penalties and hopefully we will heading down the stretch here.”

The scoring got started just over a minute into the game when Michelle Robillard found the back of the net to give Mercyhurst a 1-0 lead. The Lakers would play solid defense to keep the score that way the rest of the period.

Penn State would tie it up in the second period, as Katie Rankin would score on a power play with an assist from senior Kelsey Crow to tie the game at 1-1.

The third period would go down as one for the ages. At the 13:42 minute mark, Natalie Heising was tripped on a breakaway opportunity, which led to a penalty shot. Heising could not convert on the penalty as Mercyhurst goaltender Kennedy Blair came up with one of her 27 saves on the day.

Late in the third period a scuffle in front of the Penn State net led to several penalties, including Nittany Lions goaltender Jenna Brenneman being ejected for throwing a punch.

Penn State was given a game misconduct penalty and Mercyhurst was able to take advantage of the five-on-three. Summer-Rae Dobson scored to put the Lakers ahead 2-1.

Penn State was not dead yet though, as Heising would score her team leading 13th goal of the season off a deflection to tie the game 2-2 and send the 1,000-plus fans at Pegula Ice Arena into a frenzy.

Both teams had their chances in a fast-paced, competitive overtime but neither could find that winning goal. Penn State backup goaltender Cam Leonard came up with three huge saves.

“Cam is a great teammate and a great goalie,” Kampersal said. “She got stuck in an unfortunate situation with the five-on-three, but it was the next woman up and she went in there and did her job really well.”

The Nittany Lions have now wrapped up their home schedule and will next be in action at RIT on Friday at 2 p.m.

 

 

Kevin McConlogue is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism with a minor in political science. To contact him email kpm5520@psu.edu.