Penn State shutout Mercyhurst in a nailbiter championship game to capture the College Hockey America title and punch their ticket to the NCAA national championships tournament.
Penn State shutout Mercyhurst in a nailbiter championship game to capture the College Hockey America title and punch their ticket to the NCAA national championships tournament.
The first NCAA conference champions were crowned this weekend as Penn State captured the College Hockey America title for the second straight season.
To accomplish the feat, Penn State played to a tight 1-0 decision over Mercyhurst.
Mya Vaslet scored the lone Penn State Nittany Lions goal while Katie DeSa, who was named the CHA Tournament MVP, stopped all 24 shots she faced in the game.
At the other end of the ice Mercyhurst netminder Ena Nystrom was spectacular in the loss stopping 45 of 46 shots.
“All of our battles against Mercyhurst are down to the wire,” head coach Jeff Kampersal said in a CHA news release. “Our team came out strong and that was a nice goal by Mya. It’s always nice to score first and take the pressure off. I think we were really in control the first two periods. The last period we took our foot off the pedal a little bit but Katie was stellar in net. Whenever she was called upon to make a big save, she did.”
Winners from the WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and NEWHA will join Penn State in the national tournament, with the remainder of the entries being announced March 10.