ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team (1-9-0, 0-2-0 CHA) was defeated, 5-0 by visiting Penn State (3-5-2, 2-0-0 CHA) at the Gene Polisseni Center on Friday afternoon.
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Amy Petersen scored a pair of goals to lead the Nittany Lions. Kelsey Crow and Meike Meilleur added a goal and two assists apiece, while Abby Welch scored a goal and dished out a helper. In net, Daniela Paniccia recorded her second consecutive shutout, stopping all 24 shots she faced.
Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) led all skaters on the ice with eight shots on goal for RIT, while Claudia Black (Newmarket, Ontario/St. Maximilian Kobe) added four. In goal, Terra Lanteigne (Hatchet Lake, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) took the loss, stopping 14 of 17 shots over the first 37:43 before being replaced by Brooke Stoddart (Elmvale, Ontario/Elmvale). Stoddart made eight saves on 10 shots the rest of the way.
Penn State held a 27-24 edge in shots. The Nittany Lions were 2-for-4 on the power-play, while RIT was 0-for-7. The Tigers had two 5-on-3 power-plays over the first two periods, but were unable to convert.
“I thought today was a letdown, especially after the energy and emotion we played with last night (at Ritter Arena),” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “We are really fighting the puck right now and need to have players step up and make plays.”
The Tigers generated a handful of good scoring chances in the opening period, with 18 shot attempts to 12 for Penn State, but were unable to convert. Brinna Dochniak (Marine on St. Croix, MN/Stillwater) had a great opportunity in front off a feed from Black, but shoveled the shot just wide. Madison Farrand (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill) tipped a point shot that looked to be headed for the top right corner just over the net in the final minute of the period.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, Penn State would strike with a shorthanded goal. Just like last night, Laura Bowman would find Petersen in the slot for the goal, making it 1-0 Penn State just 4:25 into the contest.
Penn State would add to its lead with a pair of second period goals to lead 3-0 after 40 minutes of play.
Lanteigne would make a great toe save on a partial breakaway attempt by Bowman early in the period. Unfortunately for RIT, Crow would fire a shot through traffic that eluded everyone at the 8:11 mark to make it 2-0 and Welch would jam home a loose puck in front on a power-play to make it 3-0 six minutes later.
RIT would try to get back in the game, but Paniccia would be up to the challenge, making a handful of key saves to preserve the shutout.
In the third period, Peterson would make it a 4-0 game with a perfectly placed shot just under the crossbar and inside the right point on the rush at 8:38. Just 1:04 later, Meilleur would score her first collegiate goal in the slot on the power-play to complete the scoring.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-10-2, although Penn State has now won the last seven meetings dating back to last season.
Last night, the two teams met at Ritter Arena on campus, with the Nittany Lions coming out on top, 2-0. Bowman and Petersen tallied a goal and an assist each, while Paniccia made 29 saves. Lanteigne stopped 35 shots for the Tigers.
RIT is back in action next weekend with a home and home series against No. 6 Colgate. Friday’s game is from the Gene Polisseni Center at 6:05 p.m. and Saturday’s contest from Colgate is at Class of 1965 Arena at 3:05 p.m.
