Oct. 12, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior forward Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) scored the game-tying goal with 6:05 left in the third period, but the Penn State men's hockey team fell to AIC, 3-2, in overtime in the program's first game at the NCAA Division I level. The Nittany Lions opened the season at 0-1-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 1,300 fans Friday night at Greenberg Ice Pavilion.
The Yellow Jackets took a 1-0 lead early in the first period before freshman Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) tallied Penn State's first-ever goal with 15:23 left in the second. After AIC regained its one-goal lead less than six minutes later, Holstrom scored the equalizer in the third. The Yellow Jackets' Jon Puskar netted the game-winner with 21 seconds left in the extra frame.
The Nittany Lions outshot AIC by a 63-29 margin. Penn State was 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Yellow Jackets were 1-for-4 with the man advantage. Freshman netminder Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) made 26 saves in his first collegiate performance, while AIC's Ben Meisner corralled 61 shots.
While on the power play, the Yellow Jackets' Nathan Silwinski opened the scoring at 2:43 of the opening frame. Defenseman Jeff Ceccacci found Adam Pleskach, who connected with Silwinski for the goal.
Bailey evened the game at 1-1 with Penn State's first goal of the NCAA Division I era. Junior defenseman Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.) and freshman defenseman Joseph Lordo (St. Louis, Mo.) took successive shots that were turned aside by Meisner before the puck found Bailey's stick outside the crease. He then sent the rebound past the outstretched netminder for the tally.
AIC grabbed its second one-goal advantage of the game with Chris Markiewicz's tally at 10:13 of the second. Chris Porter's shot from the top of the circle sailed wide before Markiewicz, who was stationed in front of the cage, scored on the rebound.
With time winding down in the third period, Holstrom tied the game at 13:55 of the third period. Freshman defenseman Mark Yanis (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) sent an outlet pass to Holstrom, who was streaking through the neutral zone. The forward then rifled a shot high over Meisner's glove to tie the game.
In the overtime frame, Puskar scored the game-winner with 21 seconds remaining. Jake Williams took a shot from the blue line that Puskar redirected under the crossbar to account for the 3-2 overtime final.
The Nittany Lions will return to action Saturday (Oct. 13) when they complete their two-game series against AIC at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.'s Mohegan Sun Arena in Casey Plaza. Opening faceoff is set at 7:05 p.m.