UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (October 23, 2022) --The Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team hit the road for its second straight weekend of non-conference play on Sunday afternoon. This week, it was a trip to Hockey Valley, for a two-game set with No. 12/12 nationally-ranked Penn State. It was tough sledding in the weekend opener at Pegula Ice Arena, as the Ravens were outshot, 42-15, and suffered a 6-0 defeat. Six different players found the net for Penn State in the victory.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 1-3-0, while Penn State climbs back to .500, at 4-4-1. The two teams will wrap up their weekend series on Monday, with a 2 p.m. puck drop at Pegula Ice Arena.

Despite being outshot 15-3 in the opening frame, Franklin Pierce had a solid chance to open the scoring just 2:28 into the proceedings, when junior Jenna Ruiz (Webster, Wis.) got hauled down on a shorthanded breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot. From between the hash marks, Ruiz tried to pick the top-right corner, over the glove of Penn State junior goaltender Josie Bothun, but Bothun got just enough of the shot to knock it on top of the goal and keep the game scoreless early.

The opener came nearly five minutes later, as Penn State struck at 7:18. Junior Alyssa Machado led the rush into the zone on the left wing, cut to the slot and slipped a shot between the pads of junior goaltender Suzette Faucher (Middleton, Wis.), for her second goal of the season.

The Nittany Lions doubled the lead to 2-0 in the first minute of the second frame. Senior Courtney Correia and junior Kiara Zanon combined to spring junior Olivia Wallin into the zone on the right wing. Wallin went five-hole from the right faceoff dot at the 58-second mark for her first goal of the campaign.

Penn State would make it 3-0 before the second period was out, at 14:15. Senior Izzy Heminger flipped a wrist shot towards the net from the right point. Junior Maeve Connolly was stationed between there and the goal, and got a stick to the shot to deflect home her first goal of the year.

Franklin Pierce got caught in a change at the end of a long shift early in the third period, and freshman Tessa Janecke made it 4-0, with a highlight-reel goal at 2:04. Fellow freshman Kendall Butze sent the puck ahead to Janecke, who broke into the zone on the left wing, with nobody from the changing Ravens in her way. The left-handed shooting Janecke made a slick move to her backhand and popped the puck under the crossbar on the far side for her team-leading fifth of the year. 

Senior Eleri Mackay added another at 14:41, with her first of the season on a breakaway, after a long pass from behind the Penn State net by senior Rene Gangarosa sprung her in all alone. Senior Mallory Uihlein created the 6-0 final with a finish amid a scramble out front at 17:32, for her first of the year.

Faucher (1-3-0) finished with 36 saves against 42 shots in defeat for Franklin Pierce. Bothun (4-4-1) stopped all 15 shots on her goal to post her first shutout of the season for Penn State.