DURHAM, N.H. - Junior goalie Nicky Harnett (Plymouth, Minn.) recorded 25 saves, but the University of New Hampshire women's hockey team was defeated 3-0 by Penn State University at the Whittemore Center on Friday afternoon.
Harnett made 10 of her stops in the second period. She allowed a goal in both the first and second periods, and the visitors netted an empty-net goal late in the third.
PSU's Josie Bothun made 22 saves to shut out the Wildcats for the second consecutive day. Kiara Zanon led the offense with two points (one goal, one assist). Alyssa Machado and Mikayla Lantto scored the other goals.
UNH is now 6-11-2 overall and PSU improves to 10-6-2.
UP NEXT
- The Wildcats are on holiday break until their next matchup on the road with Dartmouth College on Sunday, Jan. 2 (2 p.m.).
- UNH's next home game is Friday, Jan. 7 (2 p.m.) against Providence College.
FIRST PERIOD
- UNH recorded a 10-9 shot advantage but trailed Penn State 1-0 after the first period.
- On a power play, Machado gave the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead at 6:27 on a goal at the left doorstep. Rene Gangarosa, with the pass from the left point, and Rachel Weiss were credited with assists.
- Harnett stopped consecutive shots within a minute by Anna Promersberger (at 8:05), Gangarosa (8:39) and Machado (8:48) to keep the 'Cats wtihin a goal.
- With 8:12 left in the first period, Jada Christian (Caledon East, Ontario) skated toward the net as she fed Nicole Kelly (Brantford, Ontario), who barely missed a scoring opportunity wide left.
- Penn State was whistled for a major cross checking penalty at 13:16. - One minute later, Bothun turned aside shots off the stick of sophomore Brianna Legros (New Liskeard, Ontario), Kelly and senior captain Lauren Martin (Cambridge, Ontario) within a span of seven seconds.
- The Wildcats sustained pressure, but sophomore Brianna Brooks (Whitby, Ontario) was denied by Bothun at 14:21 and 14:54.
- Bothun made four more saves the remainder of UNH's power play - a total of nine in the five minutes - to keep the score 1-0 in her team's favor.
- One of those stops came with 2:27 on the clock when Tamara Thiérus (Saint-Jerome, Quebec) was raced toward the cage and fired a backhander.
SECOND PERIOD
- Penn State held the 11-4 shot advantage over UNH and increased the lead to two in the second stanza.
- With 30 seconds left on a UNH power play, Thiérus fired a shot in front of the net that was gloved by goaltender Bothun at 2:52.
- Lantto, waiting in front of the net, fired a shot to scored and give Penn State a 2-0 lead at 10:44. Zanon and Natalie Heising earned the assists.
- Freshman Kira Joudikis (LaSalle, Ontario) skated toward the net against two defenders, but she toe-dragged to beat the defense and snapped a shot on goal that was stopped by Bothun at 17:49.
THIRD PERIOD
- Neither team had a shot advantage in the third period (8-8), but one went in for Penn State.
- Twenty seconds into the period, senior Emily Rickwood (Brantford, Ontario) ripped a shot on goal that was saved by Bothun.
- Brooks had a good look at the net from the right doorstep at 3:31, but the shot tailed wide right to keep the score 2-0.
- With just under 12 minutes to play, Promersberger blasted a shot on net that was gloved by Harnett.
- With Harnett pulled in favor of an extra skater, Zanon gathered a loose puck in the neutral zone and deposited a shot from the blue line into the open net to give Penn State a 3-0 lead at 17:40.
GAME NOTEBOOK
- Penn State finished with a 28-22 shot advantage.
- UNH was 0-for-2 on the power play, while Penn State converted 1 of 2.
- Penn State had a 26-19 faceoff advantage.
- The Wildcats blocked 16 shots and Penn State had eight blocked shots.
UNH NOTEBOOK
- Legros led all skaters with four blocked shots.
- Brooks had a team-high 12 faceoff wins and she was in the circle for 24 of the 45 total faceoffs.
SERIES NOTEBOOK
- UNH has a 4-4-0 lifetime record against Penn State that includes 1-3-0 at the Whittemore Center.
