| 4 | 1 |
| Pegula Ice Arena| University Park, Pa. | 5,898 | |
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Jan. 10, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Less than 18 hours a stinging 5-4 overtime defeat, the Penn State men's hockey team used a three-point showing from Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) and a 35-save performance from Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.) to defeat Ohio State, 4-1, Saturday afternoon at Pegula Ice Arena in front of 5,898 fans.
"I thought we had really solid goaltending (from McAdam)," said head coach Guy Gadowsky. "I thought the play of the game was Eamon stopping the short-handed breakaway with seven minutes to play. That could've greatly changed the momentum and complex of the game, so I think he deserves a ton of credit for that."
With the Nittany Lions (10-7-2, 4-2-0-0 Big Ten) owning a 3-1 lead with 6:56 remaining in the third and looking to extend the lead on the power play, OSU's Matthew Weis went one-on-one with McAdam. The sophomore netminder was there for the stop as Scheid's empty-net goal sealed the deal five minutes later.
After a Curtis Loik (North Vancouver, British Columbia) power-play goal put Penn State up 1-0 late in the first period, Ohio State (7-10-2, 2-3-0-0 Big Ten) drew even five minutes into the second period during a 5-on-3 power play. Weis bagged the goal. Loik's goal was assisted by Scheid and Scott Conway (Basingstoke, England) on a pretty combination with 43 seconds left in the opening period.
Penn State used two goals in a span of 50 seconds from David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) and Scheid to turn the tide. Ohio State attempted the first 13 shots of the period before Penn State fought back with seven of the next eight, scoring on two of those chances.
Goodwin collected a puck at center ice with eight minutes to go in the second period and dished to Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) who lost control of the puck as it slid into the left corner. Holstrom continued to pursue and threw it to the near post as Goodwin slid home his eighth tally of the season and second in as many games. Holstrom collected his 16th helper of the year on the play.
PSU's Nate Jensen (Shorewood, Minn.) and OSU's Christian Lampasso got tangled up and were issued matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties putting the two teams at 4-on-4. Off the ensuing faceoff, Ohio State lost control of the puck at the blue line as Conway skated alone into the blue line, passing off to a rushing Scheid on the backdoor for a 3-1 lead with 7:01 remaining in the period.
"I didn't even see Scheid until I got to the blue line," Conway said. "I just was able to give it to him on the backdoor and he put it home."
Much like Friday's game where Ohio State took control of the flow with 16 shots to Penn State's 13, it was the Nittany Lions who owned the advantage on the scoreboard, out-scoring the Buckeyes 2-1. In the third, Ohio State would out-shoot PSU again, 12-8, upping the total to 36-35 for the game. OSU is just the second team (Michigan, Nov. 21-22, 2014) to out-shoot Penn State in a game this season.
Scheid, Penn State's second-leading scorer, tallied his first two-goal game of his Penn State career. His last two-goal effort was in a 3-2 overtime-win for Alaska Anchorage over St. Cloud State on Feb. 17, 2012.
As for McAdam, 27 of his 35 saves came after the opening period. He stopped 15 OSU shots in the second and 12 in the third to pick up his first home victory.
Conway was impressive all game, earning a 14-8 record at the faceoff dot and contributing two key faceoffs to a pair of Penn State goals. Conway has points in four of his last five games.
GAME NOTES
• Penn State snapped a three-game skid, its longest of the season. The Nittany Lions improved to 6-1-1 at Pegula Ice Arena this season.
• The Nittany Lions improved to 3-4-0 all-time against Ohio State. The series split at home was the second straight between the two teams. Penn State travels to Ohio State Feb. 27-28.
• With Holstrom's assist, he moved up to 20 points for the season. The Nittany Lions had only one 20-point scorer all of last season and has two through 19 games, the other being Casey Bailey.
• David Goodwin scored in back-to-back games for the third time this season. He pulled the feat against UConn (Oct. 10-11, 2014) and then Cornell and Wisconsin (Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, 2014).
• Loik scored for the second time in three games. Prior to his tally against Western Michigan on Dec. 30, 2014, Loik had been scoreless since Oct. 30, 2014 against Bentley.
• McAdam is 3-1-0 against Big Ten competition this year after going 0-4-0 as a freshman in 2013-14.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State continues its six-game home stand against Michigan State on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 16-17. Friday's game kicks off at 7 p.m., while Saturday's game is slated for a 5 p.m. puck drop on ESPNU. The Nittany Lions will be donning their long awaited third jerseys for Saturday's contest.