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2020-21 Penn State Nittany Lions

Now that at least half a season of CHA play has been announced, here's a look at the 2020-21 version of the Penn State women's hockey team.

This year it's nine freshmen, four sophomores, six juniors, and five seniors - 24 total on the roster. There are twelve forwards, seven defenders, and five goalies.

I guess it doesn't matter why some expected players aren't on the roster anymore, but some expected players aren't on the roster anymore. The senior class is down to four players and a fifth-year senior: Natalie Heising, Katie Rankin, Morgan Rolph, Chantal Burke, and fifth-year senior Jenna Brenneman.

There are five goalies, but only two that have a chance to start - seniors Jenna Brenneman and Chantal Burke. It remains to be seen if Brenneman has fully recovered from her injury and is back to form, but Chantal Burke was solid in net last season, to say the least, so there's no worries at goalie.

The forwards are very freshman-heavy: six freshmen, three sophomores, one junior, and two seniors. I can't even start to dream up a starting lineup, much less any lines at all, but freshman forwards will be jumping in right from the start. The defense should look the same as last season, as there is only one freshman and one sophomore this season, and four juniors and one senior. Jessica Adolfsson is a junior and back in the lineup, which is good news, and hopefully she is fully recovered and back at full strength.

Natalie Heising is the captain in her senior season, and she's going to be critical as a leader of a young offense. Look for sophomore Rachel Weiss to also play a big role - she looked very comfortable at D-1 as a freshman, so she should be one to watch this season.

Things kick off at home against Lindenwood November 29-30 (Sunday and Monday), both games at 2:00 Eastern. There's no word yet on any live streaming for either game.
 
Penn State Athletics sent out an email saying all home games will be streamed on BTN+, but there are no CHA games on their schedule yet. I guess it will be something to watch for closer to game day.
 
Well...Penn State has said that all home series will be broadcast on BTN+, and this coming weekend series is a home series. Checking the BTN+ schedule, there are no games listed on either day. BTN+ replied to my email saying if a game isn't on the schedule, it's not being broadcast. So either Penn State is wrong or BTN+ is wrong. The best plan, if you're expecting to watch this series, is to check the BTN+ schedule early on game day, I guess, and see if a livestream is happening or not.
 
phillydog said:
https://gopsusports.com/sports/womens-ice-hockey/roster

Interesting 1920-21 roster as currently posted. Quite different from when I last looked in early October. Freshman Carrie Byrnes has been added. Mikayla Lantto, Morgan Rolph, Katie Rankin, Chantal Burke no longer rostered.
Click to expand...

Good lord...three more seniors gone? That leaves Natalie Heising and Jenna Brenneman as the last two seniors on the team, and only Heising left in her class (Brenneman being a fifth-year senior, and Cam Leonard being a redshirt junior). Now the freshmen will definitely be on the clock, as there are six freshman forwards, and only two sophomores, one junior, and one senior. The defense losing Morgan Rolph in her senior season is a big hit, but otherwise they remain the same as last season, with the exception being that Jessica Adolfsson is back in the mix, so that kind of equals things out for this solid defense.

The two freshman goalies just saw their stock rise, with Chantal Burke off the roster now (ouch). If one of them can edge out redshirt junior Cam Leonard, she will be the backup goalie.
 
This is the email I got from BTN+ about this weekend's series against Lindenwood:

"Thank you for contacting BTN+ support.

Penn State Womens Hockey is not available on the schedule at this time for Nov 29-30. These events would not be available through BTN+.

If you need further assistance please let us know."
 
Reddington said:
Lion Vision?
Click to expand...

I wish, but I doubt it. The only school media I know is going to the game is The Daily Collegian, but that's just going to be a game recap article, and (like probably every fan) I want to see video. Too bad there's not some shmuck with a camera who's more than willing to go sit up top and shoot some video highlights if they would let him...oh, wait.
 
I walked into my favorite restaurant last weekend and half the staff was gone. There were a lot of new faces and things didn't run as smooth as normal. I know there is a pandemic, but the world is unforgiving. I hope they can stay in business because I enjoy going there and yet I have seen this story before many times over the years.

Have A Happy Thanksgiving Zed.
 
Reddington said:
I walked into my favorite restaurant last weekend and half the staff was gone. There were a lot of new faces and things didn't run as smooth as normal. I know there is a pandemic, but the world is unforgiving. I hope they can stay in business because I enjoy going there and yet I have seen this story before many times over the years.

Have A Happy Thanksgiving Zed.
Click to expand...

Best wishes, have a Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for your posts!
 
Regards to Streaming. On Sunday there will be a link to the game on the womens hockey twitter account. Also on the womens hockey website. Parents can watch in Person.
 
It's game day (2:00 Eastern), and Penn State is still putting out links to BTN+ streaming coverage on the GoPSU site and their Twitter account, but there isn't any BTN+ video for either game. Neither game is on the BTN+ schedule, so it's not looking like anyone is doing video. I wish Penn State had figured this out earlier and set something up themselves.
 
A small roster hint: all the single digit players are freshmen (and up to #11). It's going to take some watching to figure out this season's lineup, for sure.
 
After one period, it's Penn State up 1-0 on a goal from freshman Carrie Byrnes. Lindenwood leads the shots on goal 9-6, but freshman goalie Josie Bothun has stopped everything. She looks good in net so far - not all 9 shots were easy saves, and a few had me wondering how she even saw them. Both teams are a little choppy, understandably, but not a bad period of hockey. Freshman Kiara Zanon is a really good skater, but I haven't been able to figure out who's who among the rest of the freshmen yet. I didn't see Jenna Brenneman even dressed on the bench or the pregame huddle at the net, so maybe she hasn't healed as well as expected...who knows? Or maybe I just didn't see her.
 
After two, Penn State is up 2-0 on a Natalie Heising power play goal. Penn State leads the shots on goal 26-16, and they looked a lot better in that period. These young freshmen forwards are a quick bunch, good skaters and good puck handlers. There's no free pass through the neutral zone, either, and it's giving Lindenwood a headache getting much set up. Really, the only real thing that looks like it's missing is a bit of chemistry, but that will come with more time. It's kind of weird seeing Rene Gangarosa out there as a forward rather than her usual spot on defense, but she's a very offensive defender, so it works. Her 50-foot reach is nice, too.

It looks like a very short bench, too, for whatever reason. Maybe that's virus-related or something. Also, Cam Leonard is suited up in her goalie gear but sitting outside the bench. Strange times.
 
Penn State takes game one by a score of 3-0, with Natalie Heising scoring a third period empty net goal to start the season with a two-goal game. The scoreboard said shots on goal were 38-21 for Penn State. These freshman forwards are a good-looking bunch, and so quick to move the puck and to move with the puck. Freshman goalie Josie Bothun starts her D-1 career with a shutout and had some nice saves in the game. Like any "first game of the season", there's a little tightening up to do, but overall Penn State looked better as the game went on and had a really good showing today. The lasting impression for me was the play of the freshman forwards - they lived up to their hype. Game time tomorrow is at 2:00 Eastern again, and on the same LionVision stream.
 
Like yesterday, today's game against Lindenwood will be streamed free on LionVision (2:00 Eastern): https://gopsusports.com/watch/?Live=897&type=Live

The bench looked short yesterday, but maybe it just seemed short since Penn State is down to 16 players (not counting goalies), and only 13 suited up yesterday. Freshmen Olivia Wallin and Alyssa Machado didn't play, and sophomore Rachel Weiss didn't play (man, I hope she's not hurt). That leaves 5 on the ice and 8 on the bench. There were 8 forwards and 5 defenders, since Rene Gangarosa was switched from defense to forward. She probably had a two-way assignment, though, being a very offensive defender anyway.

Trying not to read too much into it, but I do wonder about goalie Jenna Brenneman's status since she didn't even suit up yesterday. I don't think a freshman has ever been the starting goalie at Penn State before yesterday's game, so that was different. Josie Bothun got herself a shutout, but it's not like she faced the baptism by fire that Chantal Burke got last season at #1 Wisconsin in her first start, so we'll see if Bothun is the real deal. I can't imagine anything taking Brenneman out of a starting goalie position as a fifth-year senior except reinjuring herself, but I hope that's not the case. She's had quite the crazy NCAA career.

Somebody forgot to tell all these freshmen that they're supposed to be timid and overwhelmed by D-1 hockey - they sure didn't play that way. Jeff Kampersal recruited himself a pretty good group of players with this bunch.

The Penn State recap: https://gopsusports.com/news/2020/11...indenwood.aspx

The Daily Collegian recap: https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports...13c19d01d.html

The Daily Collegian extra: https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports...804ad120f.html
 
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Lion Vision is nice. I'm watching right now. It's tough to compete against football. I count 13 skaters and I do not see 29 and I think her skating style is so unique that I would be able to pick out if she switched numbers. 3 forward lines and four d looks like the plan yesterday. Things change with this coaching staff on a regular basis so the lineup is rarely the same.

Lindenwood looks like they lost the one player that seemed to be a threat last year - and they still have this Asplundh goalie who is solid. It looks like Goff left RIT for Lindenwood.


I think this is Kampresal's first win opening game of a season. The box score suggests to many penalties for PSU.

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