Penn State successfully defended its AHA crown on Saturday afternoon.
Despite a late scare, the No. 3 Nittany Lions defeated No. 11 Mercyhurst 3-2 in Pegula Ice Arena to claim a fourth consecutive conference tournament championship.
How it happened
Despite maintaining possession for much of the opening minutes, Penn State struggled to generate shots on net, as Mercyhurst was able to continuously intercept and clear the puck to escape danger.
While the Lakers’ defensive strategy prevented the Nittany Lions from generating sustained pressure, the tradeoff was a lack of offense. They were forced into line shifts after each dump off instead of pursuing the puck, generating just two shots in the opening 11 minutes.
Meanwhile, forward Mya Vaslet broke through with a slap shot in front of the net, giving Penn State an early advantage.
“I’m probably gonna start calling her a big-game Vaslet, because she scores big goals in championship games,” head coach Jeff Kampersal said after the game.
Forward Tessa Janecke was booked for cross-checking late in the period, but even with the extra skater, Mercyhurst was unable to register any shots on net.
The second period proved more balanced in terms of puck control, with both teams trading quality scoring chances. Goaltenders Katie DeSa and Magdalena Luggin stood tall between the pipes as the shots piled up for both sides.
Forward Nicole Hall, fresh off a trip to the Olympics, rifled the puck through traffic and into the net to double the Nittany Lions’ lead.
Midway through the period, Penn State picked up its first power play courtesy of a kneeing call on Jade Maisonneuve but was unable to convert. However, Katelyn Roberts broke through on the team’s second skater advantage shortly after. Her shot was stopped initially but trickled across the red line when Luggin was unable to corral it, extending the lead to 3-0.
Defender Abby Poitras got one back for Mercyhurst in the third period, beating DeSa on the wraparound to get the Lakers on the scoreboard.
“We got to get pucks deep, and we didn’t do that, and they were able to transition quickly and kind of shove the puck a little bit down our throats a couple times with those odd-man rushes and breakaways,” DeSa said. “So that’s something that we definitely want to clean up moving forward.”
Sophie McKinley nearly sliced into the lead again on a breakaway, but DeSa came up with a critical stop to maintain a two-goal lead midway through the final frame.
Nursing a lead, the Nittany Lions played more conservatively down the stretch, and Abby Poitras stuffed a loose puck through to make it a one-score contest with less than two minutes to play.
“They needed to win that game in order to make the NCAA tournament,” Vaslet said. “So they really were fighting for everything that they could to keep their season alive and to not go on spring break next week.”
The Lakers pulled Luggin with under a minute, but Penn State held on for the victory to claim the AHA crown.
Team leaders
Goals: Mya Vaslet, Nicole Hall, Katelyn Roberts, 1
Assists: Tessa Janecke, Matilde Fantin, Leah Stecker, Sophie Morrow, 1
Saves: Katie DeSa, 29/31
Up next: The Nittany Lions await their seeding for the NCAA Tournament, with regionals taking place March 12-15
