Penn State Sports Magazine
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6 8 M A R C H 2 0 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2.03 goals per game. Bothun's goals- against average of 1.93 ranked 17th na- tionally and first among CHA netmind- ers. The Nittany Lions were up to 10th in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll and ranked No. 9 in the PairWise rankings heading into their series at RIT. Kam- persal said it was good to see the team's behind-the-scenes preparation paying off in the form of national acclaim. "It's just a testament to how hard the players work," he noted. "That said, we keep a distant eye on those things. Our primary focus is to get better and focus on short shifts and winning each shift. When you start thinking about too big a picture, you get distracted or stressed." With only 11 teams making the field, the Nittany Lions have a narrow path to the NCAA Tournament despite their ranking. There are no other CHA teams in the USCHO poll, and only one other team even has a winning record (Mer- cyhurst at 15-13-2). Meanwhile, Penn State went 2-6-1 against ranked oppo- nents during the nonconference season. The one way to assure themselves of an appearance at nationals would be to win the conference tournament and claim the automatic NCAA berth that goes with it. That would be another first for Kampersal's surging program. The Nittany Lions haven't ever won a CHA title or been to the NCAA Tournament. At least not yet. ■ MEN'S ICE HOCKEY: Penn State dropped three of four games prior to its two-game series against No. 1 Minnesota on Feb. 17-18. The Nittany Lions were swept at Michigan Jan. 27-28, then split their series at Ohio State the following weekend. The only victory in that span was in the series opener against the Buckeyes, a 4-3 win on Feb. 3 in which senior forwards Kevin Wall and Con- nor MacEachern scored two goals apiece. The Lions headed to Columbus on the heels of a heartbreaker at Michigan in which they squandered a two-goal lead in the third period. The seventh-ranked Wolverines scored three times in a four-minute span to hand PSU a 5-4 loss. Prior to facing Minnesota, the Lions were 19-10-1 overall and 9-10-1 in Big Ten play. They were eighth in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll and sixth in the PairWise rankings. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Penn State fell to 4-10 in Big Ten play (13-12 overall) with an 81- 75 overtime defeat at Michigan State on Feb. 12. Senior guard Makenna Marisa finished with a game-high 22 points and added 7 rebounds and 5 assists, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Lady Lions' seventh loss in nine games. Heading into a Feb. 16 visit from Ohio State, Marisa was fifth in the Big Ten with an average of 18.0 points per game. As a team, Penn State was struggling on the opposite end of the court, with opponents shooting a league-high 44 percent from the floor. MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Playing host to the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge at Rec Hall the weekend of Feb. 3-4, the Nittany Lions defeated 10th-ranked USC and second-ranked UCLA by identical 3-1 scores. Graduate opposite hitter Cal Fisher had 15 kills, 6 digs, 3 aces and 2 blocks to help Penn State hand the Bruins their first loss of the season. In addition, junior middle blocker Toby Ezeonu finished with a match-high 7 blocks, while junior outside hitter Michal Kowal was perfect on 24 serve receptions. "I was really proud of the way our passers were able to settle down, because it felt like a heavyweight prize fight out there," Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. The Lions rose to No. 3 in the national rankings with their back-to-back victories over the Los Angeles-based volleyball powers. They struggled in their next match, dropping the first two sets in a visit to Saint Francis, but rallied to win the last three and escaped with a hard-fought victory. The Lions were sporting a 9-1 record heading into their Eastern Intercol- legiate Volleyball Association opener against Princeton on Feb. 17. MEN'S LACROSSE: Graduate attackman TJ Malone finished with the 11th hat track of his career, but it wasn't enough to stave off a 14-12 loss at Villanova on Feb. 12. The Nittany Lions also got 2 goals apiece from junior midfielder Luke Mercer, sophomore midfielder Matt Traynor and graduate attackman Chris Jordan. A week earlier, Traynor had scored 5 goals in PSU's season-opening 21-11 victory over visit- ing Lafayette. WOMEN'S LACROSSE: Penn State opened its season with a 16-6 win over visiting Bucknell on Feb. 11. Junior midfielder Kristin O'Neill finished with 6 goals on 10 shots, while sopho- more midfielder Brooke Hoss, freshman mid- fielder Emma Kelly and senior attacker Kara Ne- alon had 3 goals apiece, helping Penn State run its all-time record against the Bison to 20-0. MEN'S GYMNASTICS: Junior Matt Cormier took first place in the floor exercise and vault, and Penn State tied its high- est team score of the season in a 407.600-401.450 victory over visiting Michigan on Feb. 11. "Matt Cormier continues to lead us in a great way by example," coach Randy Jepson said. WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS: Penn State earned its first regular-season vic- tory over Nebraska since 2006 when it rallied to defeat the visiting Corn- huskers 196.350-196.325 on Feb. 10. Freshman Amani Herring turned in a career-best score of 9.925 in the floor exercise, the final scoring routine of the dual meet. WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Junior Faith DeMars shaved nearly seven seconds off the school record in the indoor 3,000-meter race, finishing in 9:00.94 at the Valentine Invite on Feb. 11 in Boston. The previ- ous record of 9:07.22 had been set by Tessa Barrett in 2017. — Matt Herb O L Y M P I C S P O R T S N O T E B O O K Heading into Penn State's last four games of the regular sea- son, senior forward Kevin Wall was leading the team in goals (14) and points (24). PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE