AHA Weekly Roundup: Oct. 25-26

This past weekend was the AHA’s last non-conference slate. Penn State split their games in the Icebreaker Tournament, RIT was swept by St. Lawrence but managed to pick up a point, Robert Morris swept St. Anselm, Lindenwood got swept by Merrimack, and Syracuse got swept by BU. All in all, not a great end to non-conference games for the AHA. 

Series of the Week: The Ice Breaker Tournament

Game 1: No 11/12 Cornell 2, No. 12/13 Penn State 0

There’s not much to say about Friday’s game. Penn State was on a hot streak, and Cornell had struggled in its first two games of the season, but the Ivy League school managed to shut down the Nittany Lions completely. 

Penn State was shut out for the first time this season, despite outshooting Cornell 37 to 21. Goaltender Katie DeSa dropped to 5-3-0 for the season. 

Game 2: No. 12/13 Penn State 11, Stonehill 1

Saturday’s game was a completely different story. After a lackluster game on Friday, Penn State pulled out all the stops against Stonehill. 

The goalfest started with a goal from rookie Grace Outwater, who dumped the puck in from the faceoff circle. 

Only four minutes later Outwater scored again to make the score 2-0. 

The second period is where things really got going. In the span of twenty minutes Penn State scored four goals, all from different players: Karolina Hengelmüller at 4:24, Maddy Christian at 5:13, Stella Retrum at 17:21, and Brianna Brooks on the power play at 18:44. 

Stonehill broke the shutout at 7:46 in the second with a shorthanded goal from Mia Kenmore. It would be Stonehill’s only goal of the game. 

The Nittany Lions continued the rout in the final frame, scoring a whopping five goals. Nicole Hall got the scoring going at 2:20 and then Brooks scored her second goal of the game 31 seconds later. Abby Stonehouse scored her first collegiate goal at 8:31. 

The freshman were on fire during this game, none more so than Outwater. She scored her third goal of the game at 10:44 for her first collegiate trick. 

Rounding out the night, McKenna Walsh scored her first collegiate goal at 11:28 to bring Penn State’s final goal tally to 11. 

The Nittany Lions used a tandem in net. Lauren Barbro played in the first half and made five saves, allowing one goal, to get the win, while Annie Spring took over in the second half and made nine saves. 

Weekly Awards:

AHA Forward of the Week: Morgan Giannone (Robert Morris)

Giannone had seven points on the weekend with three goals and four assists. The junior recorded a career-high four points in Saturday’s win with one goal and three assists. 

AHA Defenseman of the Week: Lyndie Lobdell (Penn State)

Lobdell received her second Defenseman of the Week award this season, this time for making three assists in Penn State’s victory over Stonehill. Lobdell is currently third in defenders in the AHA, with six assists. 

AHA Rookie of the Week: Grace Outwater (Penn State)

Outwater scored her first collegiate hat trick and recorded two assists for a five-point game on Saturday. It's not surprising she made this week’s list. 

AHA Goaltender of the Week: Sophia Bellina (RIT)

Bellina excelled against St. Lawrence, keeping her team in the game until the very end. The junior goaltender made 40 saves and allowed two goals, including 15 in the third period and four in overtime. 

Full Score Rundown:

Friday

No. 11/12 Cornell 2, No. 12/13 Penn State 0

No. 6/8 St. Lawrence University 4, RIT 1

Robert Morris 6, St. Anselm 1

Boston University 4, Syracuse 1

Lindenwood 1, Merrimack 5

Saturday

Robert Morris 7, St. Anselm 1

No. 12/13 Penn State 11, Stonehill College 1

No. 6/8 St. Lawrence University 2, RIT 2 (SLU wins in SO)

Lindenwood 1, Merrimack 4

Boston University 3, Syracuse 2 

Looking Forward:

Mercyhurst vs Lindenwood

Mercyhurst has had an extremely tough non-conference schedule, and now is the time for them to prove it was the right strategy. A strong start against Lindenwood would give the Lakers the right mindset starting off conference play and their push to make it past conference playoffs this year. 

For the full schedule, click here.