1 SHU (2-6-0, 1-2-0 AHA) |
University Park, Pa. • Pegula Ice Arena • Attendance: 6,042 | 2 Penn State (3-3-1, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten) |
Nov. 8, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Freshman Ricky DeRosa (Aston, Pa.) and sophomore Luke Juha (Mississauga, Ont.) netted first-period goals to lead the Penn State men's hockey team to a 2-1 victory against Sacred Heart in front the third straight sellout crowd at Pegula Ice Arena Friday night. The Nittany Lions improved to 3-3-1 overall, while Sacred Heart dropped to 2-6-0.
Juha tallied his third power-play goal of the season 3:51 into the game before DeRosa doubled the Nittany Lion lead less than five minutes later. After a scoreless second period, Will Rayner broke the shutout bid with 29 seconds left in the game.
Juha and DeRosa extended their point-scoring streaks to three games with their respective markers, while Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.) pushed his point streak to three games with a helper on DeRosa's tally. Sophomore goaltender Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) collected 20 saves to improve to 9-3-1 in his last 13 games.
The Nittany Lions, who went 1-for-7 on the power play, out shot the Pioneers by a 39-21 margin. Sacred Heart finished 1-for-8 on the man advantage, while netminder Alex Vazzano made 37 stops.
With 16:09 in the first period, Juha blasted the Nittany Lions to a 1-0 lead. Freshman David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) won the offensive-zone draw back to Juha, whose slap shot hit Vazzano's blocker before going up and over the netminder for the power-play marker.
DeRosa skated the Nittany Lions to a 2-0 advantage at 8:04. Sophomore Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) started the play along the half-wall and found Olczyk in the low slot. The Long Grove, Ill., native had his chance denied, but DeRosa pounced on the rebound for his second goal of the season.
In the second period, Sacred Heart nearly halved the lead during a late power play, but a quick stick from Juha preserved the Nittany Lions' two-goal advantage. From the left circle, Drew George's shot trickled toward the goal line, but Juha circled behind Skoff and cleared the puck out of harm's way.
Rayner cut the deficit to 2-1 at 19:31. With a power-play advantage and the goaltender pulled for an extra skater, Rayner scored off a feed from Brian Sheehan. Evan Jasper also collected an assist on the play.
The Nittany Lions, who improved to 2-0-1 at Pegula Ice Arena, will return to action next week when they host No. 11/12 UMass Lowell in a two-game series Nov. 14-15.