Feb. 28, 2015
2-2-0 | 2-2-0 |
| 11 | 14 |
| Saturday, February 28 (Noon) | |
Holuba Hall | University Park, Pa.
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Feb. 28, 2015 - Penn State received four-goal performances from both T.J.Sanders (Orillia, Ont.) and Matt Florence (Greenwood Village, Colo.) as the Nittany Lions defeated No. 16/11 Penn, 14-11, at Holuba Hall on Saturday.
In addition to the four goals from Sanders and Florence, Mike Sutton (Sewell, N.J.) and Dan Craig (Shelburne, Ont.) netted two each while Brian Prestreau (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and James Burke (Duxbury, Mass.) chipped in with a goal. Sanders, who had the 20th multi-goal game on his career, also added a pair of assists.
Penn State (2-2) dominated the faceoff `X', as Drake Kreinz (Delafield, Wis.) won 17 of 29 faceoffs. The Nittany Lions also won the ground ball battle, collecting 44 to Penn's 36. The Quakers capitalized with the extra man, going 1-2 while the Blue and White went 0-3.
The Nittany Lions out-shot the Quakers, 45-27, as Sanders led all players with 12 shots. Sutton finished second on the team with 11 shots while Florence added eight. Connor Darcey (Wellesely, Mass.) saw his record move to 2-2 after he tallied seven saves. Jimmy Sestilio recorded 18 in the cage for Penn.
Penn (2-2) opened the scoring by tallying the first two of the game, both from Nick Doktor. With 9:45 remaining in the first quarter, Florence put the Nittany Lions on the board with his fourth goal of the season.
Sanders then knotted the score with his first of the contest less than 1:30 later.
After a third Quaker goal, Craig sparked a three-goal run that erased Penn's lead. He picked up a loose ball from Sutton that Sestillo failed to control and popped it in the back of the net for the 3-3 score. Florence and Sanders each hit their mark to give Penn State a 5-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Penn answered with a three-goal run of its own, however, to regain its advantage at 6-5. After trading goals midway through the second quarter, Burke's first of the season knotted the score and Sutton gave Penn State a lead it would relinquish just once more.
The second half scoring was opened by T.J. Sanders, who cut through the middle of the defense and buried the shot past Sestillo to put Penn State up 9-7. Sutton followed that up with his second of the game, but Penn scored twice, including a goal on the man-up, and after a Sanders' fourth of the contest, a late third quarter goal by Joe McCallion and an early fourth quarter marker by Pat Berkery evened the score at 11-11.
The Nittany Lions refused to back down, however, and picked up the game-winner less than five minutes into the final frame, thanks to Florence. Craig took a pass from Sanders and slammed one home to put Penn State up 13-11 with just over four minutes left. When 1:35 was on the clock, Florence iced the game with his fourth of the day for the final 14-11 score.
Penn State is back in action next Saturday as the Nittany Lions travel to Cambridge, Mass. to take on Harvard at noon.