Feb. 2, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After falling behind 3-2 in the third period, the Penn State men's hockey team scored three unanswered goals as it secured a 5-3 comeback win against Ohio University in an exhibition matchup at Greenberg Ice Pavilion Saturday night.
The Bobcats grabbed an early 1-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game before Penn State struck twice in a 2:51 span to take a 2-1 first-period advantage. Ohio tied the game later in the second stanza on the power play before securing a 3-2 lead 38 seconds into the third.
The Nittany Lions then responded with three straight goals, including Curtis Loik's (North Vancouver, B.C.) game-winner at 15:06, to account for the 5-3 final.
Freshman Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) netted two markers, while senior George Saad (Wexford, Pa.) and sophomore Peter Sweetland (Newtown, Pa.), who paced the Lions with three points (1g, 2a), also scored for Penn State. Freshman goaltender Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) turned aside 34 shots.
The Nittany Lions out shot Ohio by a 53-37 margin and went 0-for-4 on the power play. The Bobcats finished 1-for-4 on the man advantage, while Ohio netminder Fedor Dushkin, who allowed four goals, made 48 saves.
Just 1:51 into the contest, Derek Rahme gave the Bobcats the early advantage after tallying off feeds from Nathan De La Torre and Mike Kretz.
The Nittany Lions tied the game 32 seconds later with Bailey's marker. Sophomore Max Gardiner (Deephaven, Minn.) fed Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who entered the offensive zone on an odd-man rush with Bailey. Holstrom slid a pass to the Anchorage, Alaska, native at the top of the left circle, where he one-timed a shot past Dushkin.
Saad gave Penn State a 2-1 lead at 5:14 of the frame. Sweetland's point shot went wide behind the cage, but Saad, who was stationed in the left circle, corralled the misfire and sent the puck to the back of the net. Freshman blue liner Mark Yanis (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) registered an assist on the play.
In the second period, the Bobcats tied the game on Tyler Pilmore's power-play marker at 1:53. Tyler Benson's shot from the blue line hit Nick Rostek in the slot, but Pilmore gathered the loose puck and scored.
Brett Agnew gave Ohio a 3-2 advantage with 19:22 left in the third. Moments after killing a penalty, Agnew jumped off the bench, received an outlet pass from Jay Mazzarella and skated in all alone before tallying on the breakaway.
With 10:33 left in the game, Sweetland made it a 3-3 game. The Newtown, Pa., native thwarted a failed clearing attempt at the blue line and sent a slap shot toward the net that redirected off an Ohio defenseman and into the back of the net.
Loik put the Nittany Lions ahead, 4-3, with 4:56 left in the game. With the faceoff to the right of Dushkin, David Glen (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta.) won the draw back to Loik, who had his first attempt stopped before scoring on the wraparound.
With 47 seconds left in the game, Bailey netted an empty-net goal after receiving a pass from Sweetland.
The Nittany Lions will return to action next weekend when they host fellow NCAA Division I independent Alabama Huntsville for a two-game series Feb. 8-9.