Dutchwomen top Penn State, 2-1 (UPDATED)

by Ryan Fay

The Dutchwomen played the role of spoiler on Friday night.

The Penn State Lady Nittany Lions were playing their first game in the newly-opened, state-of-the-art Pegula Ice Arena. But the Dutchwomen put a damper on the festivities by skating away with a 2-1 non-conference road win.

The Dutchwomen and the Lady Nittany Lions battle Friday
at the Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, PA
photo: Mark Selders

With the game tied 1-1, senior forward Stefanie Thomson struck on the power play just over four minutes into the third period to provide the eventual game winner. Thomson's tally, which was assisted by senior defenseman Ashley Johnston and junior forward Christine Valente, was her first of the season.

The win snapped a three game losing streak for the Dutchwomen, who improved to 3-3 on the season.

Union's special teams were firing on all cylinders, going 2-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Union sophomore forward Courtney Turner opened the scoring with a power play tally at 14:48 of the first period. It was her third goal of the year, and it was assisted by senior defenseman Maddy Norton and junior forward Bryanne Panchuk.

The Dutchwomen's lead would stand until 3:57 of the second period, when Penn State sophomore forward Shannon Yoxheimer potted a goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Yoxheimer's goal was her team-best third of the season, and it was the lone Penn State shot to elude Dutchwomen junior netminder Shenae Lundberg, who stopped 23-of-24 shots. The Deerfield Academy product lowered her goals against average to 2.45, and increased her save percentage to .922.

Nicole Paniccia put aside 24-of-26 shots for the Lady Nittany Lions.

Penn State (1-3-1) gets another crack at the Dutchwomen when the two teams square off again on Saturday. Gametime is 2:00 p.m.

Box Score

Follow @UnionHockeyBlog