2020-21 Penn State Nittany Lions

[phillydog]

Two CHA series scheduled for this weekend have been postponed due to Covid...Penn State v RIT and Lindenwood v Syracuse. Does anyone know CHA guidelines regarding Covid? Infected players have to sit out for 2 weeks? 3 weeks? 3 consecutive days of negative test results for non-infected players?

[BackyardIce]

And, mirroring the USCHO poll, the USA Today/USA Hockey national poll has Penn State ranked #10, so congratulations to them! On that note, how is Clarkson even ranked with a 1-2-1 record?

Well those 4 games were all against #5 ranked Colgate. Obviously opponents / SOS is taken into account in addition to record.

[ZedLeppelin]

Jessica Adolfsson was named the CHA Player of the Week, and Carrie Byrnes was named the CHA Rookie of the Week:

https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/1/...ly-awards.aspx

[ZedLeppelin]

And, mirroring the USCHO poll, the USA Today/USA Hockey national poll has Penn State ranked #10, so congratulations to them! On that note, how is Clarkson even ranked with a 1-2-1 record?

[ZedLeppelin]

I would love to see that, and before all of the restrictions, we would have. I hate COVID and cant wait to get back to see some of the crossover games we have been accustomed to.

I think that's what I miss the most this season - the mixing it up with some out-of-conference play.

In great news for Penn State, they have their first ever national ranking in program history, ranked #10 in the latest USCHO poll: https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/1/...n-ranking.aspx

And here's a quick video of this weekend's goals: https://twitter.com/PennStateWHKY/st...74939516301316

[agfire]

It would be a stretch to put Penn State on the same level as Wisconsin (or Minnesota), but I think it's also a big stretch to say Penn State couldn't compete with any WCHA team. I think they could compete with any of them outside of maybe the top three, and even then I'd still love to watch them play those three, too.

I would love to see that and before all of the restrictions, we would have. I hate COVID and cant wait to get back to see some of the crossover games we have been accustomed to.

[ZedLeppelin]

...While PSU may be improved, they are NOT comparable to Wisconsin and I think they would have a very tough time getting a win from any WCHA team.

It would be a stretch to put Penn State on the same level as Wisconsin (or Minnesota), but I think it's also a big stretch to say Penn State couldn't compete with any WCHA team. I think they could compete with any of them outside of maybe the top three, and even then I'd still love to watch them play those three, too.

[Reddington]

Holy Mackerel: RIT beat Mercyhurst 1-0 and then Mercyhurst beat RIT 4-0. No doubt lots of talent graduated in the CHA last year. It is really to bad PSU is not playing out of conference. Love to see a Cornell, Colgate, Northeastern, OSU on the schedule.

Celeste Gets her first win.

[D2D]

Sorry, Wisconsin doesn’t look superior to the top 2 or 3 teams in what conference??? While PSU may be improved, they are NOT comparable to Wisconsin and I think they would have a very tough time getting a win from any WCHA team.

Bemidji is the WCHA team that's really struggling right now, so I would think Penn State would, at a minimum, be competitive with them.

[agfire]

I'm saying Wisconsin didn't look to be superior to the top 2 or 3 teams in any of the other conferences. There is increasing parity every year.

Sorry, Wisconsin doesn’t look superior to the top 2 or 3 teams in what conference??? While PSU may be improved, they are NOT comparable to Wisconsin and I think they would have a very tough time getting a win from any WCHA team.

[zambonidriver]

Some take a ways form the season so far. The Lions are playing to win as opposed of not to lose. The freshmnn influence here is huge. All the Freshmen get along really well and have known each other since u-15 national camp and have played each other in tournaments all the way up. Jessica Adolphsson is a BEAST the best part about her play is she is beginning to trust her D partners and you can see that she is more relaxed in her play even from the start of the year. Machaddo and Lannto received their clearance to practice on Friday so they will be in the lineup soon. How about walk on Carrie Byrnes three points this weekend and she is usually in the middle of scoring chances when her line is on the ice.
When Pomesberger gets back from injury they will be really deep and it will give coach Kampersall more options. Balance is the Key to competing with the blue bloods of Women's hockey. They have that right now. The other thing I am noticing is that the lions are drawing more penalties then they are taking. Granted a couple they took yesterday were obviously make up penalties like the one they took right after the second goal yesterday and the one after the goal got waved off. I chock that off to the reputation of the RMU coach and the lack of backbone of the crew. All in all these kids are really good.

[phillydog]

Kampersal is getting his recruits in now and has made other rother adjustments. The team looks good and is starting to pull it all together. The program is winning more consistently within CHA and will start to garner national attention. The speed of play, depth of talent, and solid goal keeping will allow them to be competitive. They will certainly have to improve on power play efficiency and reduce the number of penalties; particularly at key junctures of the game. They can get away with average performance in these areas within CHA; not so much when you go up against top 5 teams in the country.

Zanon is a wonderful talent and the future is bright. She's received a lot of recognition in a short period of time and may be putting more pressure on herself to perform. Holding the stick too tight and missing wide open nets at times. You could see the relief on her face when she capped things off with the empty netter. Kid just needs to relax and play hockey.

[ZedLeppelin]

Keep the links coming and thanks for keeping the thread going. Tough to compete with NFL playoffs so the live stats sufficed at 9.95 a pop. Normally, you don't spring for the big ticket so you must really be jonesing this year.

Jonesing is right, and I'll probably go broke paying for livestreams this season! I really miss being at the arena.

Going to say two positives and one negative and one in between. Two wins on the road. D limited shots to 30 and 25. The negative is evidently faceoffs.

Two wins on the road is always good, but no CHA team has swept Robert Morris in Pittsburgh since 2013, so this weekend was impressive. You're right, faceoffs are absolutely a negative this season - they're missing the faceoff skills of senior Katie Rankin, for sure.

And the one in between is the first line was held in check both games yet the team still won. That bodes well for the team!

It's great that scoring is spread out and not dependent on one or two players. How weird is it to watch this team and Natalie Heising is hardly mentioned post-game anymore? It's not because she isn't out there hustling or working hard - she is. She's just surrounded now by a lot more talent, and doesn't have to be the deciding factor in games. This Penn State team is so much faster this season, too, so if an opponent thinks they can just focus on one or two players, they're going to have a long game and be on their heels for most of it.

[Reddington]

Keep the links coming and thanks for keeping the thread going. Tough to compete with NFL playoffs so the live stats sufficed at 9.95 a pop. Normally, you don't spring for the big ticket so you must really be jonesing this year.

Going to say two positives and one negative and one in between. Two wins on the road. D limited shots to 30 and 25. The negative is evidently faceoffs. And the one in between is the first line was held in check both games yet the team still won. That bodes well for the team!

[ZedLeppelin]

The Penn State game recap: https://gopsusports.com/news/2021/1/...orris-4-1.aspx

The Daily Collegian game recap: https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports...5eaef3f05.html

The Robert Morris game recap: https://rmucolonials.com/news/2021/1...enn-state.aspx