SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Penn State men's hockey found a way to even the score after trailing twice but a third deficit proved to be one too many as the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions fell short in 3-2 setback to No. 2 Notre Dame Saturday evening in the Big Ten Championship game from Compton Family Ice Arena.
Penn State ends its 2018-19 season with a 22-15-2 overall record. Notre Dame improves to 22-13-3 and clinches the Big Ten's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament as conference champions.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Irish opened the scoring as Spencer Stasney weaved his way through the offensive zone and slipped a backhand shot through Nittany Lion junior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) near the far post for the 1-0 edge at 3:43 of the first period.
- Penn State answered as sophomore Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) chipped a rebound over the shoulder of Notre Dame goaltender Cale Morris after junior Nikita Pavlychev's (Yaroslavl, Russia) initial bid was knocked around in front of the crease for the 1-1 score at 8:04 of the opening stanza.
- The hosts regained the lead late in the first period as Cal Burke collected a rebound out front and lifted the puck into a yawning net for the 2-1 score at 16:19.
- PSU fought back again to tie the contest just 34 ticks later as senior Alec Marsh (Bridgewater, N.J.) redirected junior Brandon Biro's (Sherwood Park, Alberta) initial shot past Morris at the near post for the 2-2 score heading into the first intermission.
- Notre Dame countered again late in the middle frame as Cam Morrison snipe a shot past the glove of Jones from the left circle for the 3-2 edge at 18:24 of the second period.
- Neither team cracked the scoreboard in the final period with Penn State holding the 12-7 shot advantage.
GOALTENDING
- Jones falls to 18-12-2 on the year after making 26 saves for the Nittany Lions, marking his third-straight outing in the Big Ten Tournament with 25 or more saves.
- Morris was named the Big Ten Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after stopping 46 of 48 shots and improving to 18-12-3 overall, finishing the game with a .958 save percentage.
NOTES
- Penn State saw the majority of shot attempts with a 48-29 edge. While each team went 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.
- The Fighting Irish doubled up the Nittany Lions in blocked shots 22-11.
- Tonight's crowd of 5,988 set a new facility record for Compton Family Ice Arena.
- The Irish become the first team since the Big Ten Hockey Conference was formed to win two tournament championships as they are now back-to-back champions.
- Junior Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ontario) and sophomore Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) were named to the All Big Ten Tournament Team, joining Notre Dame's Cam Morrison, Spencer Stastney, Andrew Peeke, and Cale Morris.
- Sam Sternschein's first period goal was his ninth of the season
- With his goal late in the first period, Alec Marsh tied his single-season career high with his seventh goal of the season. He finished the season with 14 points, his second-best season total.