{"id":687296,"date":"2026-10-15T08:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T08:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/687296\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T08:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T08:48:14","slug":"penn-state-womens-hockey-searching-to-find-the-edge-in-close-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/687296\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Women’s Hockey Searching To Find The Edge In Close Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penn State women\u2019s hockey has had no shortage of close games through the first stage of the season. The problem is, it always seems to be on the losing end.<\/p>\n

Through the Nittany Lions\u2019 first three series, they are 0-3 in one-goal games. The losses include two consecutive 2-1 losses to No. 1 Ohio State to begin the season, one in overtime, plus a 5-4 overtime loss at Syracuse<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n

At this point in the season, Penn State\u2019s struggles in 3-on-3, sudden-death overtime are becoming clear.<\/p>\n

The Nittany Lions have allowed opponents to score the winning goal within the first two minutes of both overtime periods, with Ohio State\u2019s game-winner coming at the 46-second mark. Opponents have needed only three shots to give Penn State its two overtime losses.<\/p>\n

Correcting these late-game lapses will be a key focus as the team returns home.<\/p>\n

The Nittany Lions take on Lindenwood this weekend, a fellow Atlantic Hockey America team coming off a two-game sweep by Mercyhurst.<\/p>\n

Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal highlighted the need to \u201ctake away time and space\u201d and to \u201cbe a team that\u2019s hard to play against\u201d versus Lindenwood.<\/p>\n

Lindenwood features new coach Max Gavin and key transfers such as Renee Ng, who totaled 52 points in 52 games over two years at Wilkes, a Division III program.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Lindenwood] look quick. They look like they\u2019re moving the puck well,\u201d Kampersal said. \u201cWe need to lock it down from the beginning defensively, so we can play a good offense and prevent them from having the puck too much, but they\u2019ll present issues like Syracuse did with their speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can focus on controlling the puck, you know, having possession of the puck most of the game, then we should be in good shape.\u201d <\/p>\n

For Kampersal, however, he and his team see the early-season games as chances not only to pick up early wins but also to learn and grow before the winter gets into full swing.<\/p>\n

Many of Penn State\u2019s key contributors are freshmen who still have room to improve at the college level, such as Sofia Ismael, who won AHA Forward of the Week earlier this month, as well as Kylie Amelkovich, Megan Hosman, Lorelai Nelson, and goaltender Morgan Stickney, who won AHA Rookie of the Week in September. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on this first half \u2014 we prefer to win games, obviously \u2014 but we\u2019re learning lessons, and as long as we learn from the losses and correct those areas, then that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d Kampersal said. \u201cThen we\u2019re building for when we get back from Christmas, January or February, to be elite at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penn State\u2019s series with Lindenwood takes place Friday and Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drops are set for 2 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"\t<\/p>\n

Jake is a third-year photojournalism student from Wilkes-Barre, PA. Whether writing or photographing, loves basketball over anything. Probably listening to Freddie Gibbs somewhere. Follow @speichermedia on Instagram for photo projects!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penn State women\u2019s hockey has had no shortage of close games through the first stage of the season.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[31132,52323,34774,5,19314,73536,2146,9669,2147,9671,2150,23673,73537,1581],"class_list":["post-687296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hockey","tag-aha","tag-aha-womens-hockey","tag-atlantic-hockey-america","tag-hockey","tag-jeff-kampersal","tag-kylie-amelkovich","tag-onward-state","tag-pegula-ice-arena","tag-penn-state","tag-penn-state-womens-hockey","tag-psu","tag-psu-womens-hockey","tag-sofia-ismael","tag-womens-hockey"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117444064331754121","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}