STATE COLLEGE, Pa. The Robert Morris University women's hockey team fell to #8 Penn State 4-2 Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena.
Anjelica Diffendal scored her team-leading seventh goal in the loss.
Another big push from the Nittany Lions early in the first forced Raygan Kirk to be sharp off the opening puck drop.
A pair of offensive zone face-off wins for PSU led to some sustained zone time for RMU in the defensive zone, however luckily for the Colonials Olivia Wallin and Rene Gangarosa pushed their shots wide of the cage.
Big time shot blocks from Emily Curlett and Wasyn Rice helped keep PSU off the board on another solid shift by the Lions minutes later, stepping into lanes and preventing PSU from gaining easy access to dangerous areas of the ice.
RMU pushed back and eventually struck first courtesy of Ellie Marcovsky, who beat Josie Bothun for her fourth of the year to give RMU the first goal two games in a row against the Nittany Lions.
Kirk stood tall with a huge stop on Jess Ciarocchi with under a minute to play in the period to keep it 1-0.
Julie Gough tied it up early in the second for Penn State, redirecting Izzy Heminger's shot past Kirk to tie things at 1-1.
RMU earned a great chance to regain the lead when the Lions were whistled for body-checking but couldn't convert on the player advantage. Another look for Gillian Thompson immediately after the player advantage expired sailed wide of Bothun's net.
Amy Dobson put PSU up 2-1 at the midway point of the game, however offsetting minors following the goal opened the ice up for four-on-four play and Anjelica Diffendal immediately took advantage, evening things at 2-2 with her team-leading seventh goal of the year.
Penn State would regain the lead with just 13 seconds left in the middle frame with her second goal of the series.
The Colonials had a golden opportunity to tie things up in the third after Penn State was given a major for head contact and a minor for tripping within seconds of one another setting up an extended five-on-three power play for the Colonials.
Despite a flurry of shots, RMU could not beat Bothun as Penn State held on for the kill and the eventual win.
QUICK HITS
Anjelica Diffendal now leads RMU with seven goas
SCORING PLAYS
Marcovsky, 14:36, 1st - Assists: Templeman, Boyle
Gough, 3:27, 2nd - Assists: Heminger, Gangarosa
Dobson, 9:58, 2nd - Assists: Adolfsson, Ciarrocchi
Diffendal, 10:54, 2nd - Assists: Templeman
Wallin, 19:47, 2nd - Assists: Lobdell
Heising, 19:03, 3rd (EN) - Assists: Heminger
NEXT UP
Robert Morris returns home for a Tuesday afternoon matinee against Mercyhurst on February 9 at 2:00 p.m.
