Re: 2018-19 Penn State Nittany Lions
2018-19 Penn State season thoughts:
Well, it started with a bang, for sure. Penn State headed to #5 Colgate with only 12 players and a goalie, due to disciplinary action for half the roster. That was the low. The high was that these same 12 players, who should've been gassed after losing game one, came out for game two and beat Colgate. It was a great way to start, having half a team beat a #5 opponent on the road.
For the season, Penn State lost 8 games by one goal. They finished tied 9 times. They took 10 games into overtime.
Conference play is tightening up, despite the final 6-9-5 record against CHA opponents. Against Robert Morris, they lost 5-1, 4-1, 3-2, 2-1, and had a 2-2 OT tie. Against Mercyhurst, they lost 2-1, 5-4 in OT, and had two OT ties. Against CHA champion Syracuse, they lost 5-2, 2-1, 1-0, and had a 1-1 OT tie. In these 13 games with the top three CHA teams, Penn State was only out of three of them - the other 10 were one goal games or ties, five in OT. The CHA is going to be a battle zone next season.
What needs work? Special teams, specifically scoring on the power play. Penn State is a very disciplined team, and they get a fair amount of power play chances, but they're just not putting pucks in the net when they have the advantage. With so many ties and one-goal losses, they have to start making their power play work for them. Actually, scoring in general needs to improve, not just on the power play. Shooting isn't a problem - they put a lot of pucks on net - but they have to start turning all these ties and one-goal losses into wins. The talent is there, and Penn State isn't a "one hotshot player" team, thankfully, so hopefully they will tune what needs tuning to make all these shots count. I do like how aggressive they are in front of the net, working rebounds for all they're worth. The effort is definitely there.
My own personal favorite players to watch, in no particular order:
Brooke Madsen - her scoring was off this season, and I know she was frustrated by that, but she makes things happen. I love her forechecking, and how she is usually the last player out of the zone, forcing the play, and I love watching her when she gets a chance to drive on the net. She reminds me a lot of former Penn State player Laura Bowman.
Katie Rankin - I love a player who can be counted on in the faceoff circle, and Rankin is that player. She's also a big strong forward, and makes things a mess in front of the opposing goalie. If her line is on the ice, and there's a rugby game going on in front of the net, Rankin is in it.
Shea Nelson - she was quiet last year as a freshman, but she really picked her game up this year, and she's going to be a player to watch. She's quick, and she works hard around the net, and works hard to set up plays. She was just fun to watch because of how much she improved her game over last season.
I'll stop there, because there are too many players I love to watch for different reasons, not just for scoring. I love the program as a whole and how they continue to improve. I was going to mention Jenna Brenneman as a favorite, for her impressive boxing skills, but that cost her a game misconduct, so I'll leave it off of my list. But who doesn't like a goalie who gives a little feedback?
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