Women's Ice Hockey 10/17/2013 5:47:00 PM

Dutchwomen travel to Happy Valley for Pegula Arena opener

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2-3-0 | 0-0-0
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1-2-1 | 0-0-0
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UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - The Union College women's ice hockey team will travel to Happy Valley for the first time in school history to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in a two game series on Friday and Saturday. The event will be the first women's hockey game played at the newly opened $90 million Pegula Arena.

This will be the third and fourth meetings between the Dutchwomen and the Nittany Lions after Union swept the season series with 1-0 and 2-1 wins in Penn State's inagural season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm on Friday and 2 pm on Saturday.

Last Time Out

Last weekend the Dutchwomen hosted Northeastern and Boston University during the Union Homecoming festivities in Schenectady, NY. Union fell to Northeastern in the final minute of the third period when the Huskies scored to break the 1-1 tie. The Dutchwomen rebounded well against #7 Boston taking a 2-1 lead into the final minute of play before the Terriers capitalized with an extra attacker to tie the game and force overtime. The Dutchwomen fell in OT after the Terriers were able to muster one last offensive possession.

The Dutchwomen came out firing in the first period as sophomore Jessica Kaminsky tallied her first goal of the season just 1:18 into the first period. Kaminsky fired a shot off a rebound that bounced to the slot to beat Northeastern goaltender Chloe Desjardins. The Dutchwomen's early goal was assisted by senior captain defenseman Maddy Norton and sophomore Kathryn Tomaselli.
In a third period Union power play, the Huskies cleared the puck out of the zone and chased the puck down the center of the ice, forcing a shot on the Union net. After a scramble in front the puck found the back of the net. The goal was immediately reviewed and after much deliberation amongst the referees the goal was confirmed.
After more back and forth action down the stretch the Huskies drew the final blow as Maggie DiMasi redirected a feed from Claire Santostefano with just 55 seconds remaining in the third period.
Junior goaltender Shenae Lundberg stood strong between the pipes for the Dutchwomen after stopping 28 of the 30 shots she faced.
On Saturday BU got the early lead in the first period when Rebecca Russo fired a shot past Lundberg from the top of the slot after she received a feed from Jordan Juron.
Union answered the BU goal just seven minutes later when junior forward Christine Valente knocked in a rebound off her own shot from the slot. The game remained tied through the end of the second period.
Sophomore Rebecca Babiak capitalized on a rebound chance between the circles at the 7:01 mark of the frame to give the Dutchwomen the lead in the third period. The rebound came off the shot from sophomore Jamie Smith. Junior Bryanne Panchuk also assisted on the play that gave the Dutchwomen the lead.
The Dutchwomen held the lead until the final minute, when the Terriers pulled their goaltender and added the extra skater. Terrier captain Louise Warren tapped in a rebound with 32 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime.
Junior goaltender Shenae Lundberg made 18 stops in the third period against a Terrier attack that made it to the national championship just a season ago. Lundberg's 45 stops was a career high and the first time she registered 40+ stops this season.

Last Time vs. the Nittany Lions

The Dutchwomen won their first weekend series of the 2012-13 season when they welcomed Penn State to Messa Rink on January 11 and 12, 2013.

Then junior Stefanie Thomson tallied the game-winning goal with four minutes remaining in the third period to give the Dutchwomen a 1-0 win in the first game. Then senior Rhianna Kurio assisted on the Thomson tally.
Then sophomore Bryanne Panchuk and then freshman Jessica Kaminsky registered two points each in the Dutchwomen's 2-1 victory over Penn State in game two.
Then sophomore Shenae Lundberg made 39 saves over the two games, picking up her first shutout of the season in game one.

Scouting the Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions have started 1-2-1 in their second season of DI hockey. They tied and beat Vermont in the opening weekend of the season and then fell 1-5 and 0-4 in two games last weekend against ECAC Hockey's Quinnipiac.

Sophomore Shannon Yoxheimer (2-2-4) and freshman Sarah Nielsen (0-4-4) have provided the offensive pop for Penn State so far this season. Yoxheimer is building off a freshman campaign that saw her lead the Nittany Lions in goals (14), assists (17) and total points (31). Nielsen is a freshman product of the Edina Hornets high school team that has produced multiple Dutchwomen, including current roster members Madeleine Dahl and Elizabeth Otten.
The Nittany Lions defense is led by a plethora of underclassmen. Freshman Kelly Seward is leading the way on defense as she leads the defense with a +1 +/- rating in addition to her 12 blocks and two goals. She is joined by fellow underclassmen Jeanette Bateman, Jordin Pardoski, Paige Jahnke, and Sarah Wilkie and graduate student Lindsay Reihl as the top six for the Nittany Lions
Goaltending duties have been split between senior Nicole Paniccia and sophomore Celine Whitlinger. Whitlinger has picked up the only win for Penn State while registering a .939 save-percentage and 3.00 goals-against-average. Paniccia has gone 0-1-1 in her two starts allowing eight goals while recording a .912 save-percentage and 3.814 goals-against-average.

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