ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT women’s hockey team (1-8-0, 0-1-0 CHA) returned to its former home, Ritter Arena, to play its first game at the on campus arena in nearly three years, but had its homecoming spoiled, falling to Penn State University (2-5-2, 1-0-0 CHA), 2-0 in the College Hockey America opener for both teams Thursday evening.
Laura Bowman and Amy Petersen scored a goal and added an assist apiece to lead the Nittany Lions. In net, Danielle Paniccia stopped all 29 shots she faced for her second career win and shutout.
RIT goaltender Terra Lanteigne (Hatchet Lake, Nova Scotia/Charles P. Allen) was strong in defeat, stopping 35 of 37 shots. She made several big saves throughout. She now has a .929 save percentage in seven contests this season.
Overall, Penn State out-shot RIT, 37-29. The Tigers held a 22-17 edge over the final 40 minutes of play. Penn State was 0-for-7 on the power-play, while RIT was 0-for-5.
“It was great to be back in our old building tonight; it really brought back a lot of really good memories,” said Bruce B. Bates Women’s Hockey Coach Scott McDonald. “We were disappointed with tonight’s result, but I liked our intensity for the entire 60 minutes. I thought our penalty-killing did a good job, keeping a good power-play off the scoreboard.”
RIT came out flying generating several good chances early on. Paniccia had to make two big saves on Kathryn Kennedy (Hamilton, Ontario) in front and made a great save in tight on Kandice Sheriff (Brampton, Ontario).
Lanteigne had to come up big later in the period on back-to-back Penn State power-plays. She made her best save of the period, a sliding pad stop on Kelly Seward from in close on a power-play with just over five minutes left. Moments later, she robbed Meike Meilleur from in close on another power-play.
The Nittany Lions would get on the board in the final second of the period, 0.9 seconds left to be exact, as Brooke Madsen feathered a perfect centering pass to Bowman, who beat her defender to the net and was able to slip the shot past Lanteigne for her ninth goal of the season. Petersen also assisted on the goal.
RIT would generate some more chances in the second period, but found themselves down 2-0 after 40 minutes of play, thanks to a Penn State shorthanded goal.
The Nittany Lions would tally their second goal of the game, 6:18 into the frame, off a turnover, as Peterson would take a feed from Bowman while down a player and slide a shot past Lanteigne on the doorstep for her fifth goal of the year.
Kendall Cornine (Kinnelon, NJ/Morristown Beard) would have a great chance midway through the period on the rush, firing a hard shot that was knocked away by Paniccia.
The Tigers and Lanteigne would kill off three straight Penn State power-plays late in the second, keeping it a 2-0 game.
RIT would keep coming in the third period, with an 11-6 advantage in shots, but could not solve Paniccia and the Penn State defense. Mackenzie Stone (Kars, Ontario/South Carleton) had a great chance in front late stymied by Paniccia to preserve the shutout.
RIT leads the all-time series between the two schools, 12-9-2.
Ritter Arena was the home of the RIT men’s and women’s hockey teams until 2014. From 2006-2014, the women recorded an impeccable 93-20-6 home mark, winning at least 10 games six times. The Tigers called Ritter Arena home for 38 seasons and forged many unforgettable memories. Ritter Arena was the site of several ECAC East and West playoff games, including the 1989, 2007, 2011, and 2012 league title games. RIT hosted back-to-back NCAA Division III Championships in 2011 and 2012, winning the title on March 17, 2012 vs. Norwich.
The two teams are right back in action Friday, Oct. 28 at 2:05 p.m., this time from the 4,300-seat Gene Polisseni Center, which opened in 2014, also on RIT’s campus.
“We know we have some things to clean up from tonight, but are excited to get right back at it tomorrow and go for the split,” said McDonald.
