Jan. 4, 2013
STORRS, Conn. - The Penn State men's hockey team fell to Connecticut, 4-3, at Freitas Ice Forum Friday night. The Nittany Lions dropped to 8-10-0 with the loss, while UConn improved to 6-8-2.
Junior Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and freshmen David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) and Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) scored one goal each for the Nittany Lions, while freshman defenseman Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded two assists for the second straight game. Classmate Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) made 17 saves.
Penn State erased two, one-goal deficits and held a 2-1 second-period advantage before the frame ended at 3-3. In the third, the Huskies tallied the frame's lone goal to secure the final lead of the game.
The Nittany Lions outshot UConn by a 42-21 margin and went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Huskies finished 0-for-2 with the man advantage, while Connecticut netminder Matt Grogan made 39 saves.
The Huskies jumped out to a 1-0 lead with Jordan Sims' marker 28 seconds into the game. From below the goal line, Sean Ambrosie passed to Sims in the left circle, where he wristed a shot high for the tally. Brant Harris also recorded an assist on the play.
While on the power play, Glen tallied his team-leading ninth goal of the year to tie the game at 1-1. From the right circle, Glen won the faceoff to freshman forward Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) at the left hash marks, where he played the puck to Juha at the right point. The defenseman sent a shot toward that net that Glen redirected past Grogan with 5:55 left in the frame.
Holstrom gave the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead 2:39 into the second period. Juha saved a clearing attempt at the blue line and pushed the puck toward freshman forward Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska), who batted it to Holstrom at the left circle. The Yorba Linda, Calif., native made a move toward the cage before slipping the puck into the back of the net.
UConn struck twice in a 1:07 span to take a 3-2 lead. At 8:22 of the period, Harris scored off an assist from Jacob Poe before Shawn Pauly gave the Huskies the advantage with 10:31 left in the frame.
With 6:14 left in the stanza, Varley took Max Gardiner's (Deephaven, Minn.) pass at the right point and fired a shot through traffic to tie the score at 3-3.
In the third period, the Huskies' Patrick Kirtland broke the tie with 13:33 remaining. Kirtland received a pass from Tyler Bouchard near the bottom of the right circle, where he wristed the puck over Skoff's shoulder.
Penn State and UConn will conclude their series Saturday, Jan. 5 at 7:05 p.m.