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2020-21 Penn State Nittany Lions

Make no mistake Syracuse is notorious for being erratic except when they play Penn State. Klimick is a handful. RMU coach lays in bed at night scheming on how to get revenge on Penn State. There is nothing automatic about the games next weekend. Diffendahl has finally grown into her frame and now all of a sudden is looking quick.
Sisti is another one that does not like losing and you can bet he will have made massive changes to Mercyhurst by the next time they play Penn State.

Ideally PSU sweeps Lindenwood and RMU sweeps RIT and someone ranked ahead of RMU loses and then you have two CHA teams in the top ten setting the table for a Battle Royale the following weekend.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
Penn State has improved a ton since last year - it's like watching a whole different team. Your point about Natalie Heising illustrates it well, because until this season she's been tasked with carrying the offense, and hasn't piled up the points for the effort. The team has always needed more than Heising, as good as she is, and they have it now with the talent Jeff Kampersal has added to the roster. It doesn't stop with Kiara Zanon, either. They play a different style of hockey with this whole group than they've played before. No more wasting time in the defensive zone, circling around, trying to figure out what to do. No more one-and-done shot attempts. No more taking periods off, or even a shift off. Nobody is getting benched for extra curricular activities. It isn't a "Heising or bust" deal anymore (that's a gross over-simplification, but basically how it's been). They're faster than I've ever seen them, they move the puck better, they're more physical, their penalty kill is better (9 for 9 against Mercyhurst), the defense is more offensive minded while still being a tough defense, etc. What they've done in the past (or not done) has nothing to do with this year's team.

I know it's going to take consistency before Penn State is taken seriously, and that's fair, but this really is a different program this season. They've had players before with talent (Heising, Laura Bowman, and others), but with no supporting cast it doesn't take a program very far. This season it's spread out, and nobody (not even Kiara Zanon) is the single standout on the team. She may prove to be the best of the group, but it's definitely a group effort, finally, and that's something Kampersal can build on more than being a "one trick pony" kind of team. Will they stumble this season? They could...it's a very young team...but so far they haven't been intimidated by what an opponent has done in the past. They just go out and play them, and they're 8-1-1 doing it.

Would they sweep UMD? Maybe, and I think they would have a good chance at it, but I also think UMD wouldn't sweep Penn State, either. Bemidji, Mankato, St. Cloud? I think Penn State would be up for any of them. Maybe that's my fan bias showing through, but I believe it.

Putting my fan bias aside, I do recognize that this is the first season of what looks like a whole new Penn State program, but having so much talent on the team makes for a solid base to build on for Jeff Kampersal, and that makes next season look just as promising, and the season after, and on and on. I wish Natalie Heising was a freshman this season, so she could enjoy four years not having to carry an offense, and just play her game. Consistency is key for this season, though, before Penn State can expect consistent recognition.
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To be successful in Women's NCAA D1 hockey, you need two strong lines, 2 strong defensive pairings, and a sound tender. Anything short of that, and the team will have highly variable results. You won't find many teams who have 3 line depth, and a 5th strong d. If you can interject a couple studs in the lineup, it certainly helps.

Simply put, winning breeds a winning culture/mindset. The influx of the freshman class at Penn State has served to elevate the game of several returning players. It sounds like the energy level has been significantly ramped up, and the team now plays with confidence and expects to be on top when the buzzer sounds.

When COVID is behind us, it will be fun to see how Penn State competes out of conference.
 
Reddington said:
As far as RMU in 2013-2014 4-5-1 down the stretch is typical CHA pounding each other.
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True, such mutual destruction happens in most leagues. The point is that a team won't stay ranked if it comes out on the losing end of such a stretch against mostly unranked opponents.

Reddington said:
That's a lot of apples and oranges, but there is enough smoke in the above paragraph to cast some holes in your reasoning on annointing OSU and Northeastern to the same tier as Wisconsin and Minnesota.
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If I implied that I am equating all of these teams, I apologize. I see UW as the No. 1. I'd put OSU very close based on watching the two teams. The Badgers are deeper and have more talent, but the Buckeyes are very good at getting the most out of what they have. Minnesota might be on a tier (tear) of its own, reserved for teams with talent that spend far too many minutes playing like they're totally lost. I struggle to know where to place Northeastern, because the only time I watched it play this year, Maine spent much of the game standing in one place hoping that the clock would run faster.

Reddington said:
When Colgate knocked off Wisconsin just like OSU did to Wisconsin, there was no hurry to annoint Colgate.
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Anoint Colgate what? The best team in the ECAC? The Raiders haven't quite made that jump in any year. Maybe this year, but it would come with an asterisk. In most seasons, finishing in the top four in the ECAC is a nice achievement; we're all still trying to wrap our heads around a four-team ECAC.
One thing that worked against the Raiders is that the year they reached the Final, they graduated a lot of the core of the team. So opening weekend of the following season, they lost to a Penn State team with 12 skaters. If there is such a thing as momentum carrying from one season to the next, that's a good way to lose it. When Colgate beat Wisconsin, it wasn't a fluke. It was, however, an Olympic year, and the Badgers got Pankowski and Clarke back in the offseason. So while Colgate had passed UW in the spring of 2018, it seemed a distant memory by the following fall.

ZedLeppelin said:
I know it's going to take consistency before Penn State is taken seriously, and that's fair, but this really is a different program this season.
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I think Penn State became a different program as soon as it hired a D-I coach. What I don't know yet is how far along it is in that evolution. Last year, the Nittany Lions played teams like UW, BU, and Clarkson. With only league games this time, we don't get to see any of those measuring sticks.

I'll believe you that Penn State has improved a ton. The question is, where does that improvement put it? We may all have theories, but until we reach a postseason, assuming there is one, it is hard to say conclusively.
 
ARM said:
When Colgate beat Wisconsin, it wasn't a fluke. It was, however, an Olympic year, and the Badgers got Pankowski and Clarke back in the offseason. So while Colgate had passed UW in the spring of 2018, it seemed a distant memory by the following fall.
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UW getting to the FF was a bit of a playing above paygrade that year without Pankowski and Clark.
 
Great analysis. OSU has wins against Wisconsin and Minnesota this year. Northeastern has swept Providence and split with BC. PSU is definitely a ? mark.
 
Kills me to say it but nice job on the sweep Penn State. I saw Penn State is ranked 8th as well. Zed are you able to watch games in person? Saw some roar zone signs that made me wonder if there are fans there
 
Lindsay said:
Kills me to say it but nice job on the sweep Penn State. I saw Penn State is ranked 8th as well. Zed are you able to watch games in person? Saw some roar zone signs that made me wonder if there are fans there
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No, I think only immediate family is allowed at the games, so that's not me. I can't imagine how quiet Pegula Ice Arena is on game nights this year, but I'm glad the players' families can be there.
 
ZedLeppelin said:
No, I think only immediate family is allowed at the games, so that's not me. I can't imagine how quiet Pegula Ice Arena is on game nights this year, but I'm glad the players' families can be there.
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That’s a shame, wish you could go. I’m sure there are players who don’t have family there. Maybe someone can adopt you. :) Nonetheless looks like they are putting together a great season. One of the most interesting storylines in college Hockey right imo.
 
Lindsay said:
That’s a shame, wish you could go. I’m sure there are players who don’t have family there. Maybe someone can adopt you. :)
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I do wish the authorized attendee list included obnoxious fans - I'd be first in line (haha)!

Nonetheless looks like they are putting together a great season. One of the most interesting storylines in college Hockey right now imo.
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I think Natalie Heising hit on that, too, in her podcast interview yesterday (https://gopsusports.com/podcasts/let...lie-heising/76). She talks about how this group of talented freshmen have really sparked Penn State into the style of play we've seen this season, and also how they've motivated upper classmen to kind of up their game to make it work. I've had a hard time trying to describe just how different Penn State is this season, and how much better they look, because the changes happened in one season with one class, rather than getting a series of individual hot shot players over the course of a few recruiting years who gradually change the program. It's not a drastic enough change to have Penn State challenging for a national title or anything, but it's a pretty big jump from what anyone is used to with Penn State women's hockey. Like I said earlier, consistency is what will "legitimize" the attention they're getting right now, at least for anyone still on the fence about them (which is completely reasonable).

Yada yada - it's just really fun being a fan of Penn State women's hockey this year.

(EDIT: here are links for tonight's live stream ($9.99 per game) and for live stats at Lindenwood: https://twitter.com/PennStateWHKY/status/1355190382502547461)
 
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After one period, Penn State leads Lindenwood 2-1 on a goal from Kiara Zanon and a penalty shot goal by Rachel Weiss. Already five penalties in this one, 3 for Lindenwood and 2 for Penn State, typical of a game with Lindenwood. Penn State had some good chances, but it looked like a first period on the road - kind of disjointed. Expect a lot more of the chippy in this game.
 
After two periods, it's Penn State up on Lindenwood by a score of 4-1, on goals from Mallory Uihlein and Alyssa Machado's first career goal. Penn State leads the shots on goal 27-11, but also leads in penalties 4-3. Penn State looked better that period, and Josie Bothun made some huge saves to keep Lindenwood down.
 
Penn State beats Lindenwood by a score of 6-2 on third period goals from Jessica Adolfsson and Rachel Weiss's second goal of the game. Penn State led the shots on goal by 48-19, and took 6 penalties to Lindenwood's 5. Neither team scored a powerplay goal. Penn State looked better as the game went on, but never did look completely on their game. Some of the passing was frustrating to see, and things took a little too long a little too many times (Rene Gangarosa, you're not a forward anymore). The striped shirts let a lot of stuff go, but they let a lot of stuff go for both teams, so at least it was fair play. Penn State moves to 9-1-1 on the season.

Back at it tomorrow at 4:30 (Eastern).
 
Robert Morris held serve and pounded RIT. Nice offensive barrage by PSU, three notable breakaways by Lindenwood, resulting in two Lindenwood goals, and I think the goalies first game under a .90 save percentage. There are things to work on today. Rachel Weiss had/has to much speed for Lindenwood.

Penalties need to be cleaned up.

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Reddington said:
Robert Morris held serve and pounded RIT. Nice offensive barrage by PSU, three notable breakaways by Lindenwood, resulting in two Lindenwood goals, and I think the goalies first game under a .90 save percentage. There are things to work on today. Rachel Weiss had/has to much speed for Lindenwood.

Penalties need to be cleaned up.

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I thought Penn State looked kind of ripe for seeing a Lindenwood breakaway or odd man rush, and it looked like Lindenwood thought the same thing. I couldn't agree more on taking so many penalties, but it's got to be tough playing someone like Lindenwood, who's going to blast you every chance they get.

Here is video of all six Penn State goals last night: https://twitter.com/PennStateWHKY/status/1355548042712256514
 
After one period, it's Lindenwood up 1-0 on Penn State on a powerplay goal. Josie Bothun came up huge with saves on on two Lindenwood breakaways, and that's about all the highlights for Penn State so far. They can't get anything much going past the neutral zone. Kind of a sloppy first period, so I hope Jeff Kampersal has some ideas for the second period.

And no live stats, so...
 
After two periods at Lindenwood it's tied 2-2 on Penn State goals from Olivia Wallin and Julie Gough. Lindenwood's goal was another powerplay goal. Penn State's passing is horrible, so they're lucky to get two goals out of it, and Wallin's was all individual effort. I don't understand their reluctance to get the puck back to either point, when both defenders are standing at the line wide open, nobody around them, ready to shoot...but I guess that's why I'm not a hockey coach. Josie Bothun in net is keeping this one as close as it is.
 
And it ends in a 2-2 OT tie at Lindenwood. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Lindenwood had won that game. The three stars for Penn State were Josie Bothun, Josie Bothun, and Josie Bothun. All in all it was not a good showing by Penn State. The passing was just plain bad the whole game and nothing looked like it was clicking. I guess that was the off game I've been wondering if they would have. That was also the worst officiating crew I've seen this season. They better get things back on track before Robert Morris shows up at Pegula Ice Arena next weekend.
 
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