Dec. 11, 2012
Box Score
VIDEO Postgame Comments: Coach Gadowsky | Friedman
FREDONIA, N.Y. - Freshman goaltender Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) earned his first career shutout with 18 saves and four different Nittany Lions scored as the Penn State men's hockey team blanked Fredonia State, 4-0, at Steele Hall Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions, who snapped their four-game losing streak, improved to 7-7-0.
Sophomore forward Jacob Friedman (West Bloomfield, Mich./1g, 1a), who netted his first goal as a Nittany Lion, and freshman David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta./2a) led Penn State with two points each. Freshmen Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.), Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) and Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, B.C.) also scored for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State, which outshot the Blue Devils by a 50-18 margin, went 1-for-2 with the man advantage. Fredonia State finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while netminder Mark Friesen turned aside 46 shots.
With 2:05 left in the opening period, Varley put the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard with a blue line blast. Freshman defenseman Joseph Lordo (St. Louis, Mo.) passed to Varley, who rifled a shot that deflected off a Blue Devil defenseman and into the back of net.
The Nittany Lions needed nearly the entire second period to strike again. Junior forward Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) directed a pass to Peter Sweetland (Newtown, Pa.) at the point, where he took a shot that Friesen stopped. Bailey jumped on the rebound right outside the crease and potted his sixth goal of the year on the power play with five seconds left on the clock.
At 10:19 of the third, Friedman, who assisted on Varley's marker, gave Penn State a 3-0 advantage. Glen, who was stationed along the half-wall, fed Friedman in the right circle, where he fired a shot for the goal. Senior defenseman Rich O'Brien (Furlong, Pa.) collected his first assist on the play.
Loik added an empty-netter with 32 seconds left in the game. Glen poke-checked a centering pass to junior defenseman Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.), who found Loik down the left-wing boards. The North Vancouver, B.C., native skated into the offensive zone before sending the puck into the net.
The Nittany Lions will return to action Saturday, Dec. 15, when they welcome Robert Morris to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion. Opening faceoff is set at 7:30 p.m.