Oct. 20, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions dropped a tough, 3-2, decision in overtime to American International College in non-conference action to close out the season series this evening from Pegula Ice Arena.
The loss drops the Nittany Lions to 3-3-0 on the year while AIC improves to 1-5-1 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring with help of great puck cycling during the man-advantage as freshman Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) was the beneficiary of a pair of fantastic passes from sophomore Denis Smirnov (Moscow, Russia) and senior Erik Autio (Espoo, Finland) and his one-timer found the back of the net for his second goal in as many nights and the 1-0 lead at 8:58.
- The Yellow Jackets got even at 14:11 of the second period as Brennan Kapcheck fired home a rebound off Joel Kocur's initial bid for the 1-1 tie heading into the intermission.
- The Nittany Lions grabbed the lead back as sophomore Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) fired a wrist shot that was deflected by an AIC stick and beat Jacket goaltender Zackarias Skog over the right shoulder for the 2-1 edge at 8:04 of the third period. Smirnov and senior Trevor Hamilton (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.) added the assists.
- AIC wouldn't quit showing resiliency for the second consecutive night as Dominik Florian was able to slip the puck in at 11:59 of the third period for the 2-2 tie as the game trickled into overtime.
- Darius Davidson was the hero for the Jackets as he found himself in on a breakaway in the extra session and he didn't miss for the 3-2 victory at 3:47.
GOALTENDING
Junior Chris Funkey (Orland Park, Ill.) stopped 21 shots in his first start this season and as he falls to 0-1-0 on the year. Skog collected 29 saves and improves to 1-3-1 with the victory.
NOTES
- PSU held the 31-24 advantage in shots while going 1-for-2 with the man-advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- Penn State has now recorded at least one power-play goal in all six games this season.
- Smirnov extends his point-streak to five games with a pair of assists, but his four-game goal streak is snapped.
- Junior Andrew Sturtz (Buffalo, N.Y.) was kept off the scoresheet this evening snapping his three-game goal/point streak.
- Hults extends his career-best point-streak to four games and has now scored a goal in back-to-back contests.
- AIC improves to 2-4-0 all-time against Penn State with the victory.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains at home next week as they resume Big Ten play by hosting Michigan for a pair of contests on Friday and Saturday evening.
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| Final | |||||
| #11 Penn State | 12 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 31 | |
| AIC | 7 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 24 |
| Final | |||||
| #11 Penn State | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | |
| AIC | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 |
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