(Bridgeport, CT) – The Sacred Heart Women's Hockey team held on for a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Wonderland of Ice Friday night.

Alexius Schutt (Elk River, MN) stopped all but one of Penn State's 42 shots on goal, getting stronger as the game moved on.  She made 17 saves in both the second and third periods.

Alanna Woodford (Scituate, MA) gave SHU the game's first lead with a nifty deflection in the low slot on a blast from the right point by Alex Davis 2:22 into the game.  The Pioneers held the puck and moved it well during a delayed penalty, with Catie Ladner (Chaska, MN) taking it around the net from the near corner and feeding it to the blue line for Davis.

Sacred Heart waited until 15:42 of the second to strike again on a power play goal by Sara Hanna.  Melissa Robbins (Nashua, NH) and Natasha Klinoff (Concord, MA) picked up the assists, sending Hanna in for a drive to the net.  After Nicole Paniccia stopped her initial shot, Hanna knocked in the rebound for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.

Penn State finally solved Schutt at 17:29 of the third on a goal by Shannon Yoxheimer.  With Paniccia pulled for a sixth attacker, Yoxheimer knocked in a loose puck on a scrum at the foot of the goalmouth, assisted by Birdie Shaw and Taylor Gross.

The Pioneers go for the two-game sweep Saturday, October 19 at the Wonderland of Ice, beginning at 2:00 pm.