Lions stumble in New York, drop third straight game

Penn State hung with St. Lawrence as the teams were tied for the majority of the contest, but the Nittany Lions (5-11-1, 1-8-1 CHA) faltered in the third period and ultimately lost, 3-1, to the Saints (9-7-1, 6-2-0 ECAC) on Friday.

The game started off with strong defense and goaltending as neither squad scored in the first period off of a combined 20 shots.

However, St. Lawrence took the lead in the second frame when Saints forward Jenna Marks notched her fourth goal of the season. The Lions answered Marks’ score less than six minutes later with a goal by forward Jill Holdcroft on a power play. The score was Holdcroft’s fifth on the year and came just 29 seconds before the second intermission.

The Saints regained the lead just shy of eight minutes into the final period of play when senior forward Kelly Sabatine found the back of goalie Celine Whitlinger’s net. St. Lawrence’s Kayla Raniwsky added an empty net goal before the final buzzer sounded on the Lions’ third straight loss.

Whitlinger’s start marked her third of the year and her fourth appearance in net on the season. Whitlinger’s third start featured her career high in saves with 45 stops. The game broke her previous high of 40 saves, which came in the Lions’ season-opening series against Vermont on Oct. 7.

Despite getting outshot 48-16, the Lions kept the Saints scoreless on their three power plays and held St. Lawrence to just six shots across those opportunities.

The Lions will close out the 2012 portion of their inaugural 2012-2013 campaign when they take on the Saints again Saturday at 2 p.m.