UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – The RIT women’s hockey team (8-26-1, 4-15-1 CHA) couldn’t rally despite a flurry of shots in the third period, falling 2-0 to Penn State (11-18-6, 6-8-2 CHA) in the first round of the CHA Tournament at the Pegula Ice Arena on Friday evening. Game two is Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
RIT lost for the first time in the first round of the CHA Tournament, since joining in 2012-13, falling to 6-1 all-time. RIT trails 1-0 in the series.
Jenna de Jonge (Abbotsford, British Columbia/George Elliot) stopped 18 shots to lead the Tigers in net. Reagan Rust (Southaven, MS/Moon Area) had eight of the Tigers 20 shots on goal to lead the offense.
Laura Bowman and Hannah Bramm each tallied goals for the Nittany Lions. In goal, Celine Whitlinger stopped all 20 shots she faced for the victory. Both teams were strong on the penalty kill in what was a tight game. RIT stopped its only penalty kill opportunity, while Penn State went 2-for-2.
“I thought we started off slow, and we were a bit nervous,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “Once Penn State got the two goals on us we woke up, but its a tough hole to climb out of, especially in the postseason. We need to come out tomorrow and show a lot more grit and determination.”
The game started off slowly, with both teams spending the first 10 minutes on the defensive. Play opened up as the period progressed. Taylor Thurston (Kanata, Ontario/All Saints Catholic) made a fine defensive play midway through. On a Penn State 2-on-1 rush, Thurston boxed out the Penn State attacker, who had a clear shot at an open goal once de Jonge committed to the puck handler.
With a little over a minute left, RIT got its best scoring chance of the period. Payerl played the puck along the boards, feeding it behind the back towards Cassie Clayton (Pickering, Ontario/PEAC School), who was positioned at the doorstep, but the pass didn’t connect.
The Nittany Lions took advantage 30 seconds later. On the Penn State rush, Bowman found Amy Peterson along the boards, who in turn found Bowman flying down the center of the ice. Bowman faked right, then finished left past a diving de Jonge for the goal.
In the first minute of the second period, RIT had a chance to tie. Rushton made a nice move coming down the ice on a 1-on-2 rush, beating the Penn State defenders, but her shot went just wide to the right. Later on, Penn State doubled up the score as Bramm came flying in at the front of the net, as a scrum developed. She poked the loose puck, which was sitting inches from the goal line, into the net with 14 minutes to go in the second period.
Tigers came out firing in the third period, as they outshot the Nittany Lions, 11-6. Early in the period, Thurston had two shots on goal at the point, with the chance to slice the deficit in half. Whitlinger tipped the first shot with her glove over the shoulder, the puck bouncing out of harm’s way.
With the Tigers on the power play for the first time, Thurston had another chance from the same spot. Whitlinger caught the second shot high to keep the Tigers scoreless.
Late in the game, with de Jonge pulled for the extra attacker, and a power-play opportunity, the Tigers had a flurry of shots on goal, but the Penn State defense held strong down two players.
RIT holds a 12-7-2 all-time edge on Penn State, although the Nittany Lions have won seven of the last eight contests. RIT eliminated Penn State in the first round of the 2013 and 2014 CHA Tournament, both at Ritter Arena. Penn State holds a 4-1 edge in the season series, out-scoring RIT, 8-5 in the five games.
The Tigers will play in their first elimination game in the CHA First Round series in game two against Penn State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
