* Courtesy of Penn State Sports Information
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s hockey team skated to an entertaining 2-2 game with St. Lawrence, ranked No. 16 by USCHO.com, on Thursday night at Pegula Ice Arena in front of 5,891 fans. Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal in the third period to even the score.
“I thought it was an excellent hockey game,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “I really respect how (St. Lawrence) plays. They play the right way. They come at you hard and they work extremely hard and I thought it was an entertaining game from my standpoint. That was their goaltender’s first collegiate game and he had fifty saves. A couple of crossbars helped him out, but he played a heck of a game. It was a great hockey game.”
Down 2-1, Penn State (4-1-1) was building momentum against a stingy St. Lawrence (4-2-1) defense that was blocking pucks in dozens and was backstopped by a freshman goalie, Arthur Brey, who made 50 saves in his college debut. Nevertheless, a stretch pass by Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland), nifty stick handling with a pinpoint pass by David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) set up Pedrie’s tally.
“It was an excellent play by Goody,” Pedrie said. “It was like he had eyes in the back of his head. It was a perfect pass.”
Goodwin rushed across the blue line, found Pedrie coming down the right flank as the freshman defenseman uncorked a rocket past Brey with 13:34 remaining to even the score a two apiece. Pedrie became the fourth Nittany Lion newcomer to score a goal this season.
Penn State would keep the tempo high in search of the winning goal, but Brey was up to the task, as was his crossbar. Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) was denied a short-handed goal in the second period by dinging the pipe as was linemate Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta) in overtime during a 5-on-3 power play.
Penn State went 0-for-7 on the man advantage, while St. Lawrence went 1-for-4. The Nittany Lions doubled St. Lawrence’s shot total, 52-26.
The Nittany Lions had an odd start with Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) seemingly putting Penn State (4-1-0) ahead less than four minutes into the game, but the referees waved it off. Play went on and 40 seconds later Kevin Kerr (Bensalem, Pa.) let one rip from the left point that snuck past Brey.
The referees reviewed the Marsh play, credited him with a goal that was assisted by Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario) and Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.). Scheid fed Juha from behind the net as Juha ripped a shot that caromed off the end boards to Marsh who was stationed on the right post where he knocked it home for his fourth of the season.
The Saints would waste little time in responding as Brian Ward redirected a Gavin Bayereuther blast from the left point off Ward’s faceoff win less than two minutes after Marsh’s tally to even the score. PSU out-shot SLU 20-7 for the period with the game tied at one.
In the second, Penn State dominated the first eight minutes, aided by a power play, to register 12 of the first 13 shots. St. Lawrence took control on a pair of power plays, scoring on the second one through Mike Marnell in transition fromm Christian Horn and Eric Sweetman with 4:13 remaining in the frame. St. Lawrence had a 10-2 edge in shots in the final 12 minutes.
The third period belonged to the Nittany Lions, as did overtime, but Pedrie’s blast would be all PSU could put together despite multiple opportunities around Brey’s net. The freshman stood tall and made several excellent saves to keep the nation’s top offense at bay.
Penn State goalie Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) had a solid game in net, making 24 saves and allowing only one even-strength goal. The senior netminder is 1-1-1 on the season.
GAME NOTES
•Penn State skated to its first tie of the season in its first meeting with St. Lawrence. The Nittany Lions were held to a season-low two goals, while holding the Saints to only two goals, the second-best defensive effort this season.
• The Nittany Lions were held to a season-low two goals, while holding the Saints to only two goals, the second-best defensive effort this season.
•Penn State recorded its first tie against a ranked team. St. Lawrence entered the contest ranked 16th in the USCHO poll and the first team out of the USA Today/USA Hockey Top 15.
•The Nittany Lions are now 9-23-1 all-time against USCHO ranked teams. Penn State went 5-6-0 last season.
• Six Nittany Lions entered Thursday with a point streak of at least three games and two continued on for six-game streaks: Alec Marsh and David Goodwin, both career bests. Curtis Loik had his career-high five-game streak ended, as did a trio of Nittany Lions with three-game streaks (David Glen, Chase Berger and Tommy Olczyk).
•The Nittany Lions are now 9-23-1 all-time against USCHO ranked teams. Penn State went 5-6-0 last season.
•Penn State was able to avoid a 10th straight loss against an ECAC Hockey school on Thursday and now sits at 0-9-1 against ECAC teams as a varsity program.
• Matthew Skoff earned his first tie since last year’s season-opening 2-2 draw with Connecticut. Skoff is 25-28-5 in his Penn State career.
•Penn State fired 50+ shots for the second time this year and the second time in three games. The Nittany Lions entered Thursday’s contest leading the nation in shots per game at 44.2.
•Penn State played in front of its 38th sellout in 41 regular-season games at Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions have played in front of 17 straight home sellouts. Penn State is 16-3-4 at Pegula Ice Arena the past two seasons.
•The two teams participated in an exhibition shootout following the game with St. Lawrence taking it, 1-0, on a Christian Horn tally in the second round.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State wraps up its six-game homestand by rematching with St. Lawrence on Friday at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. with tickets available on Ticketmaster.com and TM+.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s hockey team skated to an entertaining 2-2 game with St. Lawrence, ranked No. 16 by USCHO.com, on Thursday night at Pegula Ice Arena in front of 5,891 fans. Vince Pedrie (Rochester, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal in the third period to even the score.
“I thought it was an excellent hockey game,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “I really respect how (St. Lawrence) plays. They play the right way. They come at you hard and they work extremely hard and I thought it was an entertaining game from my standpoint. That was their goaltender’s first collegiate game and he had fifty saves. A couple of crossbars helped him out, but he played a heck of a game. It was a great hockey game.”
Down 2-1, Penn State (4-1-1) was building momentum against a stingy St. Lawrence (4-2-1) defense that was blocking pucks in dozens and was backstopped by a freshman goalie, Arthur Brey, who made 50 saves in his college debut. Nevertheless, a stretch pass by Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland), nifty stick handling with a pinpoint pass by David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) set up Pedrie’s tally.
“It was an excellent play by Goody,” Pedrie said. “It was like he had eyes in the back of his head. It was a perfect pass.”
Goodwin rushed across the blue line, found Pedrie coming down the right flank as the freshman defenseman uncorked a rocket past Brey with 13:34 remaining to even the score a two apiece. Pedrie became the fourth Nittany Lion newcomer to score a goal this season.
Penn State would keep the tempo high in search of the winning goal, but Brey was up to the task, as was his crossbar. Chase Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) was denied a short-handed goal in the second period by dinging the pipe as was linemate Dylan Richard (Sherwood Park, Alberta) in overtime during a 5-on-3 power play.
Penn State went 0-for-7 on the man advantage, while St. Lawrence went 1-for-4. The Nittany Lions doubled St. Lawrence’s shot total, 52-26.
The Nittany Lions had an odd start with Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) seemingly putting Penn State (4-1-0) ahead less than four minutes into the game, but the referees waved it off. Play went on and 40 seconds later Kevin Kerr (Bensalem, Pa.) let one rip from the left point that snuck past Brey.
The referees reviewed the Marsh play, credited him with a goal that was assisted by Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ontario) and Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.). Scheid fed Juha from behind the net as Juha ripped a shot that caromed off the end boards to Marsh who was stationed on the right post where he knocked it home for his fourth of the season.
The Saints would waste little time in responding as Brian Ward redirected a Gavin Bayereuther blast from the left point off Ward’s faceoff win less than two minutes after Marsh’s tally to even the score. PSU out-shot SLU 20-7 for the period with the game tied at one.
In the second, Penn State dominated the first eight minutes, aided by a power play, to register 12 of the first 13 shots. St. Lawrence took control on a pair of power plays, scoring on the second one through Mike Marnell in transition fromm Christian Horn and Eric Sweetman with 4:13 remaining in the frame. St. Lawrence had a 10-2 edge in shots in the final 12 minutes.
The third period belonged to the Nittany Lions, as did overtime, but Pedrie’s blast would be all PSU could put together despite multiple opportunities around Brey’s net. The freshman stood tall and made several excellent saves to keep the nation’s top offense at bay.
Penn State goalie Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) had a solid game in net, making 24 saves and allowing only one even-strength goal. The senior netminder is 1-1-1 on the season.
GAME NOTES
•Penn State skated to its first tie of the season in its first meeting with St. Lawrence. The Nittany Lions were held to a season-low two goals, while holding the Saints to only two goals, the second-best defensive effort this season.
• The Nittany Lions were held to a season-low two goals, while holding the Saints to only two goals, the second-best defensive effort this season.
•Penn State recorded its first tie against a ranked team. St. Lawrence entered the contest ranked 16th in the USCHO poll and the first team out of the USA Today/USA Hockey Top 15.
•The Nittany Lions are now 9-23-1 all-time against USCHO ranked teams. Penn State went 5-6-0 last season.
• Six Nittany Lions entered Thursday with a point streak of at least three games and two continued on for six-game streaks: Alec Marsh and David Goodwin, both career bests. Curtis Loik had his career-high five-game streak ended, as did a trio of Nittany Lions with three-game streaks (David Glen, Chase Berger and Tommy Olczyk).
•The Nittany Lions are now 9-23-1 all-time against USCHO ranked teams. Penn State went 5-6-0 last season.
•Penn State was able to avoid a 10th straight loss against an ECAC Hockey school on Thursday and now sits at 0-9-1 against ECAC teams as a varsity program.
• Matthew Skoff earned his first tie since last year’s season-opening 2-2 draw with Connecticut. Skoff is 25-28-5 in his Penn State career.
•Penn State fired 50+ shots for the second time this year and the second time in three games. The Nittany Lions entered Thursday’s contest leading the nation in shots per game at 44.2.
•Penn State played in front of its 38th sellout in 41 regular-season games at Pegula Ice Arena. The Nittany Lions have played in front of 17 straight home sellouts. Penn State is 16-3-4 at Pegula Ice Arena the past two seasons.
•The two teams participated in an exhibition shootout following the game with St. Lawrence taking it, 1-0, on a Christian Horn tally in the second round.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State wraps up its six-game homestand by rematching with St. Lawrence on Friday at Pegula Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. with tickets available on Ticketmaster.com and TM+.
