Sucese Sets All-Time Point Record as No. 6 Men's Hockey Defeats Robert Morris, 6-2Sucese Sets All-Time Point Record as No. 6 Men's Hockey Defeats Robert Morris, 6-2
Craig Houtz

Sucese Sets All-Time Point Record as No. 6 Men's Hockey Defeats Robert Morris, 6-2

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Senior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) collected a trio of assists to pass David Goodwin '17 and move into first on the Penn State all-time scoring list with 129 career points as No. 6 Penn State defeated Robert Morris, 6-2, on Saturday night in non-conference action at PPG Paints Arena.

The Nittany Lions improve to 16-6-0 on the year with the victory and close out non-conference play with an 8-2-0 record. Bobby Mo drops to 7-9-3 on the year with the loss.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Nittany Lions opened the scoring just 13 seconds into the game with a power-play tally as junior Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) redirected a point shot from classmate Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) in the high-slot that snuck through RMU goaltender Justin Kapelmaster for the 1-0 lead.
  • Just over two minutes later Penn State extended its lead as freshman Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) one-timed a feed from classmate Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) in the slot for the 2-0 margin at 2:29 of the opening frame.
  • PSU pushed the lead to 3-0 as freshman Mason Snell (Courtice, Ontario) finished off a back-door feed from junior Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) snapping one inside the far post at 9:32 of the first period.
  • Senior Kris Myllari (Kanata, Ontario) then flicked a wrist shot through traffic from the blue-line that slipped under the glove of Kapelmaster for the 4-0 lead at 14:38 of the first period.
  • Justin Addamo cut into the deficit midway through the second period for the colonials as he wired a wrister from the slot that beat Nittany Lion senior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) past the glove for the 4-1 score at 8:46 of the middle frame.
  • Penn State answered as sophomore Max Sauve (Acushnet, Mass.) finished near the far post off a clean faceoff win from Sucese for the 5-1 advantage at 12:19 of the second period.
  • RMU answered to once again cut the deficit to three as Grant Hebert fired past the glove of Jones during an odd-man rush for the 5-2 score at the 15:41 mark.
  • The Nittany Lions sealed the deal as junior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) hit the empty net with just 12 seconds remaining for the 6-2 final.

GOALTENDING

  • Jones moves to 14-5-0 on the year while improving to 7-1-1 in NHL buildings for his career following a 42-save effort.
  • Kapelmaster drops to 7-7-2 with the setback after stopping 31= shots.

NOTES

  • RMU held the 44-37 edge in shots while Penn State went 1-for-3 with the man-advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. The Nittany Lions are now 17-for-17 on the PK over their last six games.
  • Sternschein's first period power-play goal just 13 seconds into the game tied Casey Bailey's program record for fastest goal to open a game, which Bailey did nearly seven years ago to the day against UConn on January 5, 2013.
  • With a trio of assists, Sucese collects his sixth multi-point game this season and the 29th of his career while passing David Goodwin '17 for first on the Penn State all-time points list with 129 for his career.
  • The Nittany Lions improve to 16-12-1 all-time in NHL buildings and pull even at PPG Paints Arena with a 5-5-0 record. Penn State has now won six-straight games against Robert Morris improving to 8-4-0 all-time.
  • PSU is now 8-0-0 this season when a freshman scores a goal as both MacEachern and Snell lit the lamp tonight.
  • With another assist tonight, Hults has at least one assist in six of his last eight games played and is currently riding a mini three-game point streak. Senior Nikita Pavlychev (Yaroslavl, Russia) also extends his point streak to three games with a first period assist.
  • With his empty net goal, Limoges extends his point-streak to 10 games tying his career-high and is now just one game shy of the Penn State record for longest point-streak.
  • With a pair of assists Barratt registers his sixth multi-point game this season and the 23 rd of his career.
  • The Nittany Lions improve to 13-1-0 on the year when scoring first and move to a perfect 12-0-0 when leading after two periods of play.
  • Penn State is now 37-14-2 against Atlantic Hockey competition including a 19-2-0 record since the start of the 2016-17 season.

NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions resume to Big Ten play with a home series against Michigan next Friday and Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena.

For more information on the 2019-20 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.