Penn State women’s hockey report card vs. Northeastern

Penn State opened its season against Northeastern with two very entertaining games this weekend.

The Nittany Lions split the series with a 3-1 loss in game one and a 2-1 win in game two.

Here are the grades from Pegula Ice Arena:

Offense: D+

Scoring only three goals in a series was probably not head coach Jeff Kampersal’s plan but it got the job done for game two.

The problem is, the offense struggled in game one scoring one goal on 23 shots. The lone goal came from Katelyn Roberts directly off a faceoff win.

Overall, Northeastern defense held most of Penn State's shots to the perimeter of the offensive zone and blocked anything that got down low or near netminder Paige Taborski.

Penn State had multiple possessions where they had sustained pressure and would miss the net wide or fail to record a shot on goal. It is very early in the season and it is expected the offense will come soon.

The team needs to work towards moving the puck better down low and getting open for Tessa Janecke. If an opposing team gives Janecke any space, she will find an open player.

Defense: B+

Penn State's defense only allowed two even-strength goals this weekend both coming from Northeastern top player Skylar Irving.

Aside from two bad sequences, the defense was stellar. Taya MacDonald and Grace Tulock seem like the real deal and Karolina Hengelmüller has seemed to improve since last season.

On the offensive side, all defensemen pressed up on the play and helped Penn State keep sustained pressure. Northeastern only had a few odd-man rushes which means Penn State did a great job of getting back in the play.

The defense did a great job of blocking shots as well which led to breakouts for the offense. A lot of shot blocks came down low and some came on passes that were aimed across the crease. It is clear this team's defense is special and a huge strength.

Power play: F

There is no way to sugarcoat how bad the power play was this weekend. After being gifted seven power plays in game one, Penn State failed to capitalize on all seven.

They only got one power play during game two which they also failed to capitalize on. Most of the power plays did not have sustained zone pressure and at least four had no shots on goal.

The puck movement was not horrible but multiple players missed open shots and a lot of the power plays had no puck movement down low. It is worth noting Northeastern's penalty kill was third in the nation last season but that is not an excuse.

Janecke did a solid job of winning the faceoffs during the power plays but the team would miss the net 20 seconds later and have the puck cleared. Shots need to be hitting the net along with working the puck across the crease to shift the goaltender and create openings.

If Penn State wants to win games, the power play needs to be worked on because this weekend's showing was horrible.

Penalty Kill: A-

Penn State had a lot of problems with discipline this weekend and created eight power plays for Northeastern.

Penn State killed seven out of the eight power plays, with the lone goal being game one's game-winning goal. The only goal was a gorgeous one-timer snipe by Lily Shannon.

The penalty kill was so good, it got the game-winning goal in game two. A shorthanded goal for Maddy Christian from Tessa Janecke allowed Penn State to split this series.

Without the penalty kill, it’s fair to assume Penn State would’ve been swept to open the season.

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