| 3 | 5 |
| Tsongas Arena | Lowell, Mass. | |
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Nov. 14, 2014
LOWELL, Mass. -- Penn State men's hockey skated into a potent fourth-ranked UMass Lowell team Friday night at Tsongas Center in a 5-3 loss. Junior Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) and senior Tommy Olczyk (Long Grove, Ill.) and sophomore David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) each scored to pace the Nittany Lion offense.
Bailey and line mate Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) each registered two points nights for Penn State(5-2-2, 0-0-0-0 Big Ten), who attempted a late-game comeback, but fell short.
"You have to give UMass Lowell credit," head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "They out-worked us in our zone and deserved the victory. It will be nice to come back tomorrow night an\d get another chance."
The River Hawks struck first as Robert Francis squirted a slap shot from the slot through Matthew Skoff (McKees Rocks, Pa.) with 8:47 remaining in the first period. Adam Chapie fed Francis for the opening goal.
UMass Lowell (7-1-2, 4-0-1 Hockey East) would double its lead on a similar play as captain Zack Kamrass found space in the slot to sneak one home late in the first period, assisted by Tyler Mueller and Chris Maniccia. Despite trailing by two, Penn State out-shot the River Hawks, 11-9.
The Nittany Lions fought back just 17 seconds into the second period as Holstrom fired from the right point to Bailey in front of the net as he back handed the puck over Kevin Boyle's shoulder, cutting the lead in half. The goal was Bailey's team-leading sixth of the season and Holstrom's team-leading ninth assist.
Only 1:40 later, the River Hawks would regain their two-goal cushion hen John Edwardh was left alone in the slot and put one past Skoff on assists by Joe Gambardella and CJ Smith.
UMass Lowell would extend the lead to three goals as Francis bagged his second of the night off a Maniccia faceoff win with 11:13 left in the second. Skoff would be lifted in favor of Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.), who made his season debut with nine saves in the period. UML held a slight 12-11 edge in shots.
The third period began more positively for the Nittany Lions who put several pucks on frame, but Boyle was there for the early onslaught. The River Hawks would see Smith score their fifth goal of the night with 11:39 left in the period on a feed from Dylan Zink.
Penn State continued its offensive pressure when Kenny Brooks (Las Vegas, Nev.) forced a turnover on the boards to Olczyk who fired down low to Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) behind the net. Loik would draw the defense before feeding Olczyk as he flipped a back-handed shot over Boyle's glove for his second goal of the year with 8:48 remaining.
With 1:15 remaining in the game, Goodwin was able to score his fourth of the year off feeds from Holstrom and Bailey. The assist for Holstrom was his 10th of the year, raising his point total to a team-best 13 for the season.
Penn State controlled the third with a 15-9 advantage in shots for a game total lead of 37-30.
Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play, with the opportunities coming in the first period. UMass Lowell improved to 3-0-0 all-time against the Nittany Lions. McAdam made 17 saves on 18 shots.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State and UMass Lowell rematch Saturday night at the Tsongas Center with a 7 p.m. puck drop. The Nittany Lions are in the midst of a two-month stretch of playing games away from Pegula Ice Arena.