BURLINGTON, Vt. - Freshman Laura Bowman scored two goals to lead the Penn State Nittany Lions to its first win of the season 4-2 over Vermont Saturday afternoon at Gutterson Fieldhouse in non-conference action.
The Catamounts opened the scoring 6:51 into the first period. A Gina Repaci point shot found the back of the net past a screened Celine Whitlinger (37 saves) to give Vermont the early lead. Freshman Bridget Baker picked up her first career point with an assist on Repaci's tally.
Midway through the period the Nittany Lions answered with a flurry of goals. At the 11:49 mark Kelly Seward roofed a point shot past Roxanne Douville (18 saves) to even the score. Then just 12 seconds later Bowman scored her first career goal on a two-on-one with Hanna Hoenshell to give Penn State its first lead of the game.
Dayna Colang evened the game up at the 3:48 mark of the second period. She faked a slap shot, walked around a Penn State defender, stepped into the slot and roofed a shot for her first goal of the season.
However just six seconds later the Nittany Lions responded. Hoenshell walked around a Vermont defender off the faceoff and slipped a shot under Douville's arm to give Penn State the lead for good.
Bowman added her second goal of the night with 2:38 left in the second period. Hoenshell found her on the doorstep for a tap-in to give Penn State a two-goal cushion headed to the third period.
Vermont dominated the third period outshooting the Nittany Lions 16-5, but they couldn't solve Whitlinger, who earned her second career win.
Vermont returns to action next weekend as they begin a seven-game road trip with a two-game series at RIT. The Catamounts are 1-4-4 against the Tigers, but this will be their first Division I matchup.
NOTES: In four games the Catamounts are now 1-2-1 all-time against Penn State