| 4 | 2 |
| Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia | 11,674 | |
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Jan. 31, 2015
PHILADELPHIA -- The comeback kids were at it again on Saturday afternoon as David Thompson's (Glen Mills, Pa.) first career goal late in the third period gave Penn State men's hockey a 4-2 comeback win over No. 14 Vermont in front of 11,674 fans at Wells Fargo Center.
"I thought we struggled a little bit early on," head coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I think you've got to give Vermont a lot of credit. I thought Vermont actually did what they wanted to do, and they seemed to just play their game better than we were playing our game. But I thought in the third that the tide switched a little bit. We were able to sort of play, get a little momentum, get a little tempo, and get a cool game-winning goal. A guy from Philly scored it from a guy from Philly who passed it. Pretty cool."
In a 2-2 game, sophomore Ricky DeRosa (Aston, Pa.) sent a pass up the boards to Thompson at the point as he one-timed a blast past UVM's Mike Santaguida with 3:09 remaining in the game for a 3-2 lead. David Goodwin's (Des Peres, Mo.) empty-netter two minutes later capped Penn State's four unanswered goals, who improved to 13-7-4 overall.
"As a team we just really like to shoot pucks," Thompson said. "So, I just knew that it was late in the game, and I just wanted to get it on net. We contribute in different ways on this team, but obviously it's always good to get some offense from the back end, which is how you make a complete team and a dynamic team come together."
Down 2-0 with 5:10 remaining in the second, Casey Bailey (Anchorage, Alaska) netted his 18th of the year from the right wing off Luke Juha's (Missasauga, Ontario) 12th assist of the year just 14 seconds after Vermont (15-9-2) staked a two-goal lead. Taylor Holstrom (Yorba Linda, Calif.) picked up his team-leading 19th helper of the year as well.
Momentum in the game changed when the Nittany Lions killed off 1:17 of a 5-on-3 power play to open the third period leading to Scott Conway's (Basingstoke, England) game-tying goal three minutes later. Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) sent a pass from behind the net to Conway as his initial chance was stopped, but the follow up was not and he scored his sixth of the season, which came on the power play.
Conway's power-play goal was crucial as the Catamounts came in with the second-best penalty kill in the nation, having given up only seven goals all year. PSU went 1-for-3 on Saturday, while UVM was 1-for-6.
Bailey and Patrick Koudys (Smithville, Ontario) picked up a game-high two points on the day, while Thompson had a game-best plus-three rating.
Senior goaltender PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) earned the win in his first start of the season by making 33 saves, including 12 in each the first and second periods.
"He was very, very good," Gadowsky said of Musico. "I mean, he kept us in there at a time when I think the game could have got away from us. He kept us in there and gave us a chance to win."
A scoreless first period was as even as it could get, with the shots reading 12-12 and each team missing out on a power play chance. The offensive Nittany Lions ran into a stout Catamount defense intent on slowing the game down, but the pace picked up in the second.
Vermont capitalized on a defensive miscue as a pass from Jake Fallon reached Brady Shaw to open the scoring 12:57 into the second period.
A Koudys boarding penalty led to Shaw giving out the assist, this time to teammate Mario Puskarich who scored his 11th of the year less than two minutes later, earning a well-deserved 2-0 lead. Vermont had a 14-9 edge in shots during the second, but Bailey's response just 14 seconds after Puskarich's tally tilted the ice in Penn State's favor.
The Nittany Lions improved to 2-1-0 against Vermont and 2-0-2 over the past four games when entering the third period with a deficit. The Nittany Lions have produced five multi-goal comebacks in the past four weeks.
Penn State scored four or more goals for the sixth time in the past seven games, improving to 4-1-2 in those contest. Overall, Penn State is 9-1-1 when scoring at least four times.
PSU held a 45-42 advantage at the faceoff dot with Holstrom going 16-7 and Conway 10-8. UVM's Fallon was 19-22.
Another local, Connor Varley (Lansdale, Pa.) blocked a team-high three shots for Penn State, who had 10 on the day. Vermont had 19 blocked shots.
GAME NOTES
• The Nittany Lions won their first neutral site game of the year, improving to 1-3-1
• Penn State's record this season is 12-0-2 when giving up two goals or less. PSU held an opponent to two goals or less for the fourth time in six games.
• Thompson's goal was just the third this season by a Penn State defenseman and the first since Nate Jensen (Shoreview, Minn.) scored vs. Michigan State (Jan. 17, 2015).
• Penn State received at least three points from defensemen for just the third time this year (4 at Alaska, 3 vs. Northern Michigan Jan. 24, 2015).
• Conway is on a three-game point streak, while Juha has a four-game streak.
• Bailey's multi-point effort was his 9th of the season and 17th of his collegiate career. Koudys picked up his second multi-point game of his career.
NEXT TIME OUT
Penn State returns to conference action when its hosts Wisconsin on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The game will air live on Big Ten Network for Penn State's second annual White Out Game.