Hang up another banner in Pegula, Nittany Lions win second straight CHA Title

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State has won the CHA Title for the second straight year and will make another NCAA tournament appearance.

Penn State took on Mercyhurst this Saturday and downed the Lakers 1-0 in front of 1,475 fans. That attendance is the sixth-largest crowd in program history.

Penn State beat the Lakers in the CHA championship game last year by one goal but that was in overtime.

The scoring started early as Mya Vaslet quickly pulled off a beautiful move with speed to wrap the puck around Ena Nystrom to make it 1-0.

Vaslet took the puck in with speed and was able to push herself to a partial breakaway and completely baited Nystrom. The goal would come just nearly four minutes into the game.

The game seemed lopsided because Penn State was pressuring hard but that was not the case due to the Mercyhurst defense.

Penn State played their game style of hounding the opposition in their own zone for an extended period of time but Mercyhurst did a great job countering it.

Mercyhurst killed off two Penn State power plays pretty easily but could not find a way to attack Katie DeSa.

The problem for Mercyhurst was that the offense came in tiny surges and they could barely get sustained zone pressure. The Nittany Lions did everything correctly when playing their game today.

Katie DeSa was fantastic as she pitched her second straight shutout. DeSa made crucial saves at the end of the game while the Lakers got around a minute and a half of sustained pressure.

For DeSa, this win proves it is not a “Linsanity run” like other athletes have had like Tommy Devito. Penn State seems to have a true goaltender for next year if Josie Bothun decides not to stay.

Jeff Kampersal and the rest of the program seem to have struck gold on DeSa and maybe she can even take this team on a miracle run in the NCAA tournament.

The biggest story for Mercyhurst fans may be why they did not pull the goalie earlier after having zone pressure for about a minute and a half.

The game would ultimately end when Tessa Janecke, who had a shockingly quiet game on the scoresheet, would skate up center ice and dump the puck by the Roar Zone to crown Penn State as champions.

The opponent, time and day for the NCAA Tournament are yet to be determined at the moment but Penn State will play either March 14 or March 15.

Matt Becker is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mcb6250@psu.edu.