UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) potted the game-winning tally in overtime as Penn State finished off a come-from-behind effort to secure the 2-1 victory over Notre Dame on Thursday night in Big Ten Conference action at Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State pushes past .500 for the first time this season after beginning the year 0-5 as the Nittany Lions have now won nine of their last 12 games and improve to 9-8-0 on the year and 7-8-0-2-0-0 in conference action while the Irish fall to 7-9-1 overall and 5-7-1-0-2-1 in the Big Ten with the setback.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After peppering the Nittany Lion net, but having nothing to show for it for over 30 minutes of action, Notre Dame got on the board first as Alex Steeves slipped in a rebound after Nate Clurman's initial shot from the point was turned aside for the 1-0 edge at 12:01 of the middle frame.
- Penn State evened the score early in the third period as sophomore Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) sent the puck back to senior Clayton Phillips (Edina, Minn.) at the point and he wasted no time in ripping a wrister over the glove of Irish net-minder Dylan St. Cyr and into the far corner for the 1-1 score at 6:10 of the frame.
- Midway through the extra session, Phillips slithered his way through center ice and into the attacking zone before feathering a pass through the slot to Limoges who smacked a backhanded shot under the blocker of St. Cyr for the 2-1 victory at 3:08 of the overtime stanza.
GOALTENDING
Junior Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) improves to 8-5-0 on the year following a 31-save performance while St. Cyr falls to 4-6-0 this season after stopping 34-of-36 shots he faced.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 36-32 edge in shots on goal including the commanding 13-3 margin from the third period on. Both teams went 0-for-1 with the man-advantage.
- The Nittany Lions improve to 4-0-0 on the year in overtime games and are now 19-9-22 all-time in overtime games including a 5-1-2 mark in 3-on-3 contests.
- The overtime winner for Limoges marked the 50th goal of his career as he pulls into a tie with Denis Smirnov '20 for fourth on the Penn State all-time goals list. His goal also breaks a tie with Chase Berger '19 for third on the all-time points list as he now has 119 for his career.
- Limoges' goal was also his eighth career game-winning tally moving him into a tie with Andrew Sturtz '20 and Evan Barratt for second just two shy of Smirnov's program record.
- Phillips has now registered a goal in back-to-back games for the first time in his career while securing his first multi-point game of the season and the fifth of his career.
- Freshman Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) was an eye-popping 12-for-14 at the faceoff dot in the game as Notre Dame held the 31-25 (55.4 percent) edge on draws.
- Penn State is now 7-2-0 at Pegula Ice Arena this season.
- The Nittany Lions secured their first victory this season when trailing entering the third period improving to 1-8-0 just and it marks just their second win in nine chances when the opponent scores first.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Pegula Ice Arena tomorrow night to conclude the weekend series with another 6 p.m. puck drop.
For more information on the 2020-21 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.