Natalie Heising capitalizes on chances in Penn State women’s hockey's comeback win over Mercyhurst

Penn State made its first home victory of 2022 a memorable one on Friday.

The blue and white took down the first-place Mercyhurst Lakers 2-1 in overtime giving it a much-needed victory.

Following a slow start to the contest, it was none other than fifth-year senior forward and captain Natalie Heising to lead the comeback.

Heising scored with under two minutes remaining in the third period with an extra attacker on the ice and again just 16 seconds into overtime.

The captain scoring late goals for the Nittany Lions came as no surprise to coach Jeff Kampersal.

“When she has the opportunity to score, she usually puts it away,” Kampersal said. “She’s proven her whole career to be a big-time, clutch player, and those were two clutch goals.”

The goals marked the Wayzata, Minnesota, native 17th and 18th tally on the campaign.

Penn State struggled to find twine in the early goings of the contest. It tallied 10 shots in the first period but failed to generate quality scoring chances.

The second period featured more of the same besides midway through the period when Heising’s line started to create offensive opportunities, much to the pleasure of Kampersal.

“There was a series in the second period where for about five or six minutes we were in the Mercyhurst end,” Kampersal said. “We were still on the perimeter, so we have to take the puck to the net harder. But, they were working hard.”

The blue and white continued to threaten in front of the goal; however, it was unable to find the back of the net.

After two periods of play, the Nittany Lions outshot the Lakers 20-11. Even without a goal after two frames had passed, there was a sense of optimism on the bench.

“I don’t think we were frustrated, I think we just felt the anticipation of a goal coming,” Heising said. “We had a lot of opportunities and shots.”

Penn State was facing one of the top goalies in the CHA junior goalie Ena Nystrøm.

Nystrøm came into the game with a 9-4 record along with a .937 save percentage and 1.97 goals-against average.

After the game, Kampersal had a lot of praise for the Stavanger, Norway, native.

“She is tall, and she takes up most of the net,” Kampersal said. “We didn’t get enough traffic in front of her. We don't go to those gritty areas enough, so that's something we need to work on.”

The third period featured Merychurst striking first with a goal from freshman defender Sydney Pedersen just 44 seconds into the period.

The Lakers continued to pressure the Nittany Lions defensively and came inches away several times from making it a two-goal contest.

With under two minutes in the game, Kampersal pulled sophomore goalie Josie Bothun, and he sent out Heising’s line.

While working the puck around the offensive zone, senior forward Anna Promersberger threw a shot on net. Here, Heising made no mistake and tied the game at one with just 1:52 remaining in the period.

“We had the majority of the chances, and we were playing really good hockey,” Heising said. “The opportunity was there, and I followed the puck to the net and was able to put it in.”

Her goal fired up the home crowd, and the blue and white looked to feed off the momentum.

After senior defender Rene Gangarosa hit the post, Heising capitalized on the rebound and ripped a shot past Nystrøm for the game-winning goal in overtime.

“She took a really good shot which I actually thought had gone in,” Heising said. “I didn't even know where the puck was and then just followed the plan:

“I was all by myself, and the one thing I was really saying to myself was — ‘Don’t miss.’”