STATE COLLEGE, Pa – The Mercyhurst women's ice hockey team took to the ice for the first time in nearly two weeks on Saturday afternoon at the Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa. 

SHUFFLE AT THE TOP

Mercyhurst (16-8-2, 6-3-0 CHA) dropped the series opener after Natalie Heising scored her second goal of the contest just 16 seconds into the 3v3 overtime period. With the win, the Nittany Lions (13-8-3, 6-2-1 CHA) now move into first place in the CHA standings, however their stay at the top might not be long due to the fact that the Lakers can jump Penn State in the standings with a win tomorrow. Also, Syracuse has the ability to take the top seed away from Penn State tonight with a win over Lindenwood.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams started out relatively slow on the offensive end. At the time of the first period media time out, both teams had only had four shots on goal in 14 minutes of game time. Penn State ended the period with a 10-6 differential in shots, however the score remained tied at zero. 

In the second period, scoring opportunities were again hard to come by. Penn State did have their first and only power play opportunity of the game, however the Laker penalty kill denied the Nittany Lion special teams chance. The teams would stay locked at 0-0 going into the final period.

Mercyhurst  scored the first goal of the game just 44 seconds out from the second period intermission. The goal came courtesy of Freshman defenseman Sydney Pedersen who collected a puck that ricocheted out after a Penn State shot, and took the Nittany Lion defenders 2 on 1 before splitting right through them and firing a shot past the right side of Josie Bonthun. The goal was the second of Pedersen's career, it also marked her second goal against this Nittany Lion team.

Mercyhurst attempted to contain the dynamic duo that Penn State brings in Kiara Zannon and Natalie Heising for the remainder of the contest, however Heising was able to tie the game with under two minutes remaining in the third on her CHA leading 17th goal of the season.

The teams would enter an overtime period that saw Heising secure the win for Penn State as she put home a rebound past the outstretched arms of Mercyhurst's Ena Nystrøm sixteen seconds into the extra period.

Nystrøm went on to record 30 saves during the contest, she made an even 10 saves in each of the three regulation periods.

The Lakers will close out the series with Penn State tomorrow at 2:00 p.m inside of the Pegula Ice Arena.