AHA Roundup: Oct. 4-8, 2024

The past week was full of more action-packed games for the AHA. Penn State made program history against UConn, and RIT split its series against Union in a thrilling fashion. Mercyhurst was swept by St. Cloud State, while Syracuse and Robert Morris swept Stonehill and Bemidji State, respectively. Syracuse had a one-off midweek game and lost their road opener against St. Lawrence. 

Penn State Pulls Off First-Ever Win Against UConn

Oct. 4th: Penn State 2 UConn 3

Before the Nittany Lions could make history, they first had to lose to the Huskies after giving up three unanswered goals. 

Heading into the second period, the game was scoreless at 0-0. Penn State broke the stalemate with a goal from Stella Retrum at 15:15, her first of the season. 

Seconds into the third period, Penn State added an insurance goal by Mya Vaslet, her first of the season as well. 

Penn State started strong and looked to be in a good position against the Huskies, who had yet to win a game, but things quickly began to fall apart. 

At 4:46, Maddy Christian was called for tripping, sending UConn on the power play. The Huskies quickly took advantage, and Brianna Ware tipped in a rebound to pull UConn within one at 6:19. 

Claire Murdoch scored her first collegiate goal seven minutes later to tie the game. UConn was on a roll, and with a little under four minutes left in the third, Brooke Campbell scored the game-winning goal to finish the comeback and get the win for UConn. 

Oct. 5th: Penn State 4 UConn 2

Saturday was a different story for the Nittany Lions, who pulled off their first-ever program win against the UConn Huskies. Special teams were everything for this win, with three power-play goals and one shorthanded goal for Penn State. 

The first period was once again scoreless as the two teams sized each other up. 

Seconds after the puck dropped for the second period, Christina Walker scored a power-play goal for the Huskies. 

Immediately afterward, UConn was on the one-player advantage, as Kendall Butze was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking. The Huskies had the chance to once again run away with the game, but the Nittany Lions weren’t to be counted out, and Tessa Janecke broke away to score shorthanded and tie the game. 

At 12:30, Christian took advantage of a Penn State power play and scored on a slapshot from the faceoff circle to gain the lead for the Nittany Lions. 

Penn State was given an opportunity for an insurance goal at 16:57 when Julia Stephen was sent to the sin bin for hooking, and they delivered with a goal from Katelyn Roberts to make the score 3-1. 

Despite possessing a commanding lead over the Huskies heading into the third, Penn State needed to play hard to finish the game and avoid another third period catastrophe. 

Special teams once again made the difference, and this time, UConn was able to take advantage. Meghane Duchesne-Chalifoux scored a power-play goal at 4:19 to bring the Huskies within one. 

UConn pulled their goaltender with 1:54 left in hopes of pulling off some third period theatrics once more, but Penn State wouldn’t let the win slip away from them again. Campbell was called for tripping, sending the two teams to even strength. Lyndie Lobdell scored an empty net goal off a feed from Janecke to seal the win, making the final score 4-2. 

The win was Penn State’s first-ever against the Huskies, making their series history 1-5-3. Penn State ended the series at .500 (2-2), and UConn improved to .250 (1-3-0). The Nittany Lions will next travel to Schenectady, N.Y. to face off against Union. 

Janecke ended the season with one goal and two assists, earning her AHA Forward of the Week. Janecke now leads the Nittany Lions with six points off two goals and four assists. The accolades continued for her, as Janecke was also named to the November Rivalry Series roster.

RIT Thrills in OT Win

Oct. 4th: RIT 0 Union 4

There weren’t too many bright spots for the Tigers Friday night, who were shut out by Union 0-4 and outshot 38-27. RIT went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. 

Union’s Maddie Suitor had her first multi-goal collegiate game, bookending the night with the first and last goals. Newcomer Klara Kenttälä and junior Greta Kropp scored their first collegiate goals, Kenttälä’s on an empty net. 

Junior goaltender Sophia Bellina made 34 saves and gave up three goals. 

Oct. 5th: RIT 4 Union 3 (OT)

Saturday night was a much more eventful affair. RIT’s offense finally got some juice and went back and forth with Union all game. 

Six minutes into the first period Maddie Leaney scored to put the Garnet Chargers up one. Despite putting 12 shots on goal to Union’s seven, RIT was shutout for the first period. 

After a slow start to the second period, things started ramping up when Nicole Ness scored RIT’s first goal and tied the game at 8:10. Union’s Jill Willis countered with a goal at 14:12 to regain the lead, but Union wouldn’t be able to hold on to it for long. 

With the minutes counting down in the second period, Tiger Kylie Aquaro hit the back of the net to tie the game, and not even a minute later, her teammate Emma Pickering scored to give RIT its first lead of the game. 

Stephanie Bourque gave the Garnet Chargers some life when she tied the game at 2:51 in the third period. Despite 15 shots on goal, including four in the final minute, the Tigers were unable to score, sending the game into overtime and giving the fans some free hockey. 

Sometimes all teams need is a breather to turn the tide of the game, and RIT did precisely that. Addie Alvarez shot the put into the back of the net thirty seconds into OT to give RIT its first overtime win of the season. 

Other Notables:

Robert Morris continues to show up in the weekly AHA awards after a series sweep of Bemidji State. Thalia D'Elia received Defenseman of the Week for the second time in a row after putting up one goal and two assists over the weekend. Maggie Hatch was awarded AHA Goaltender of the Week after shutting out the Beavers on Friday and ending the weekend with a save percentage of .961, stopping 73 of 76 shots. 

Syracuse finally started their season, the last AHA team to do so, after having their original season opener canceled due to inclement weather. The Orange swept Stonehill and rookie Rylee McLeod won AHA Rookie of the Week after scoring her first collegiate goal and earning her first collegiate assist on Saturday. 

No. 15/15 Mercyhurst made it onto the USA Hockey Rink Live Rankings despite getting swept by No. 11/11 St. Cloud State. The Lakers have had a particularly brutal start to the season, with every regular season game so far against a nationally ranked opponent. The trend is set to continue as Mercyhurst will face No. 8/8 St, Lawrence, No. 6/6 Cornell, and No. 4/5 Ohio State next. 

Games to Watch: 

Robert Morris at No. 5/3 Clarkson

Robert Morris has been on a roll in the AHA Weekly Awards and their time to shine nationally may be coming up. RMU received two votes in this week’s USA Hockey/Rink Live poll and a serious showing against a top five school could be enough to put them on the list. 

No. 15/15 Mercyhurst at No. 8/8 St. Lawrence, Oct. 11-12

Mercyhurst struggled in the last series, but as they prepare to enter conference play and fight for the AHA title, they will need to crank out some wins in their demanding pre-conference schedule. St. Lawrence is the lowest-ranked team they will face over the next few weeks, and is their best shot to re-enter the win column. 

The full schedule can be found here. 

To keep up to date with the AHA, keep tuning in for our weekly round-ups!