Posted March 26, 2024 | Article by Matt Becker | Photo by Maddie Bader
According to Gopher Puck Live, Penn State forwards Lexi Bedier and Maeve Connolly have entered the transfer portal.
Bedier is a junior from Calgary, Alberta, with one year of eligibility left. Bedier had two goals and nine assists in 38 games this season. Bedier served as an alternate captain for Jeff Kampersal’s team alongside Maggie MacEachern and Tessa Janecke.
In Bedier’s sophomore season, she tallied three goals and five assists along with a CHA All-Academic Team Selection. Those five assists were a career-high, and ended up transitioning into nine assists the following year. In that season, Bedier helped propel Penn State to its first-ever CHA championship alongside veteran forward Maeve Connolly.
Connolly entered the transfer portal in February of this season. Connolly is a senior out of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, and notched only two points on the year.
Connolly picked up both points early in the season against Syracuse, both points were assists. Since Connolly has one year left of eligibility due to the COVID year, a change of scenery could be the answer to more point production.
In Connolly’s first season, she had a career-high 10 points in 21 games. The point production did trend downwards after that but the leadership she imposed went sky high. There is a chance Connolly could have switched focus because her shots on goal total went down every year.
Connolly spent most of her career fighting for minutes and it seemed she gained a lot of attention in the room while doing that.
Connolly adds veteran leadership to any team, so any young program with young players could be the answer for her.
While Jeff Kampersal doesn’t necessarily need to hit the transfer portal, it could be something to at least consider. If Kampersal is seeking to replace these players solely on the fact of veteran leadership, then any junior or senior-year player could be the answer.
A reason why Jeff Kampersal may not want to hit the portal is that Penn State has five recruits joining the team next season. Abby Stonehouse, Grace Outwater, Grace Tullock, Taya MacDonald and Nicole Hall are all fantastic recruits who will join the team next season.
On paper, it may not seem to be a huge loss for Penn State due to the lack of points put up between Bedier and Connoly. However, the chemistry and veteran leadership Bedier and Connolly brought to the table will be hard to replace.
Matt Becker is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email mcb6250@psu.edu.
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