Series Notes- The Lindenwood women's hockey team begins postseason play this week with a best-of-three series at Penn State in the first round of the CHA Tournament. The Lady Lions and Nittany Lions are two of the most improved teams in NCAA Division I hockey in terms of wins, with Penn State already improving by 11 wins, and Lindenwood doubling its win total from last season.
- Lindenwood enters the postseason with a 10-19-2 overall record. It finished fifth in the CHA regular season with a mark of 7-11-2. The Lady Lions enter the postseason by going 3-3-1 over their last seven games, including splitting with CHA regular season champion Mercyhurst last weekend.
- Penn State finished tied for third in the CHA standings and will be the No. 4 seed in the CHA tournament. The Nittany Lions, which have lost their last five games, are 15-15-4 on the season, and they were 9-9-2 in CHA play.
- Lindenwood and Penn State split their regular season series, 2-2-0. The Nittany Lions won the opening game of both sets by a score of 3-0 in University Park, Pa. and 3-2 in Wentzville, Mo. Lindenwood won both game twos of the series with a 2-1 road victory and a 4-2 home win.
- Lindenwood leads the all-time series against Penn State by a 7-4-1 margin, including a 4-1-1 record in Pennsylvania. The Lady Lions are 3-1-0 all-time in the Pegula Ice Arena.
- Lindenwood and Penn State are both 0-4-0 all-time in the CHA Tournament. Last season, the Lady Lions fell to Syracuse in the first round of the tournament, while Penn State was swept by RIT.
Lindenwood Notes- Lindenwood picked up its first win in program history over Mercyhurst last Friday by a 3-1 score.
Jordyn Constance had the game-winning goal and an assist, and
Katie Erickson assisted on two goals.
- In the second game, Mercyhurst scored five second-periods goals, all while one or both of the teams were in the penalty box, which sparked the Lakers to a 7-1 victory.
- Goalie
Nicole Hensley earned her fourth CHA Goalie of the Week honor on Monday. In her only appearance last week, she had a .971 save percentage and made 33 saves in the team's game one victory. Twenty-eight saves came in the final two periods, and 10 came while holding Mercyhurst scoreless over its last five power plays in the game.
- Three seniors,
Jordyn Constance,
Katie Erickson, and
Alyssa West, played their final home games last week. All three had two points in the Mercyhurst series.
- Lindenwood scored the first goal in both games of the Mercyhurst series, and it has now scored the first goal in 10 out of the team's last 12 games.
Jordyn Constance and
Lyndsay Kirkham both have four of those 10 goals.
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Jordyn Constance and
Shara Jasper are both currently fourth in the CHA with 0.87 points a game. The 27 points by both players is the most in Lindenwood history against a full NCAA Division I schedule.
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Jordyn Constance is also fifth in the CHA with 15 goals, while
Shara Jasper is sixth with 16 assists and seventh with 11 goals.
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Nicole Hensley leads the CHA with 819 saves, and she is fifth in NCAA Division I in that category.
- Lindenwood reached double-figure wins for the first time in program history with last Friday's win over Mercyhurst. It also set a school record in 2015 for home wins (7), and tied the record for CHA wins (7).
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Lyndsay Kirkham surpassed 100 career games played last Friday. She is the only Lady Lion player to play in all 101 games over the last three seasons.
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Nicole Hensley has a 2.48 GAA and a .947 save percentage in postseason games. In her first postseason appearance, she made 90 saves in a triple-overtime game at Robert Morris.
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Alyssa West has contributed to both of Lindenwood's postseason goals with one goal and one assist.
- Among current players,
Alyssa West leads the team with four career goals against Penn State.
Lyndsay Kirkham has three goals in her career, while
Shara Jasper has two goals this season.
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Nicole Hensley has started all 12 previous games against the Nittany Lions. She has allowed 2.17 goals a game, and has a .926 save percentage.
- Special teams could be the difference in the first round of the CHA Tournament. In its two wins over Penn State this year, the Lady Lions committed just two penalties and did not allow a power-play goal. In the two losses, it committed four penalties and allowed three power-play scores.
- The winner of the Lindenwood/Penn State series will advance to the CHA semifinals which will take place on March 6 in Erie, Pa. The championship game will take place the following day. The winner of the CHA Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I National Tournament.
