A Dark Knight For Army, Men's Hockey Earns 5-3 VictoryA Dark Knight For Army, Men's Hockey Earns 5-3 Victory
Craig Houtz

A Dark Knight For Army, Men's Hockey Earns 5-3 Victory

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Sophomore Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) scored the eventual game-winning goal while adding an assist as Penn State defeated Army West Point, 5-3, in non-conference action on Saturday evening at Tate Rink.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State (12-8-0) opened the scoring as senior Adam Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) blasted one on net from the near half-wall that snuck through Black Knight net-minder Gavin Abric just a few seconds after a powerplay expired for the 1-0 Nittany Lion lead just 3:34 into the first frame.
  • The Nittany Lions doubled the lead just over two minutes later as sophomore classmates Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) and Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) won a battle along the end boards and the latter found a junior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) streaking through the slot and he didn't miss ripping a one-timer over the glove of Abric for the 2-0 margin at 5:48 of the opening period.
  • Army (7-8-2) cut the deficit in half with the help a powerplay goal as John Keranen got hit in the chest with a shot from the point but was able to collect the loose puck and fire it into the far corner of the net for the 2-1 score at the 16:34 mark.
  • Penn State regained the two-goal edge early in the second period as junior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) sent the puck up ice for an odd-man rush and classmate Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) sent a cross-ice pass to freshman Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) who went bar-down for the 3-1 lead at 3:43 of the middle stanza.
  • The Nittany Lions continued to push, as Paquette took the puck coast-to-coast toe-dragging through the dots and snapped a shot past Abric for the 4-1 advantage at 5:52 of the second period.
  • Penn State grew the lead to 5-1 as junior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) beat Abric inside the far post at 10:54, but the Black Knights responded as Eric Butte finished off a nice backdoor feed with a tip in goal for the 5-2 score at the 12:37 mark.
  • The Black Knights wouldn't go quietly as a net-front scramble led to an Army goal as Joey Baez was able to sneak one through PSU senior goaltender Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) for the 5-3 score at the 16:25 mark of the third period.

GOALTENDING

  • Autio improves to 9-6-0 on the year after making 29 saves while Abric drops to 7-6-2 after stopping 32 shots in the defeat

NOTES

  • Penn State opened the scoring for the 14th time in the first 20 games this season improving to 11-3-0 in such contests while moving to 11-1-0 when leading after two periods of play.
  • The Nittany Lions snap Army's three-game winning streak and improve to 6-4-0 all-time in their first game back after holiday break by winning their fifth-straight such game. PSU finishes non-conference play with a 9-1-0 record this season.
  • Penn State is now 3-0-0 against Army in the Modern Era outscoring the Black Knights 14-4 over those three games.
  • The Nittany Lions held the 37-32 edge in shots on goal while going 0-for-3 on the man-advantage. Army went 1-for-3 on the powerplay.
  • Penn State is now 90-1-2 all-time when scoring five or more goals and have now won 32-straight games when doing so including all eight this season. The Nittany Lions also remain perfect (11-0-0) when scoring at least four goals this season.
  • The first period goal for Pilewicz is his first since a game against Wisconsin during his sophomore season on February 23, 2019, an impressive 1,043 days between scores. The senior has now registered points in three of his last four games and has points in back-to-back games for just the second time in his career and the first time since his sophomore season.
  • With one goal and one assist, Paquette secures his third multi-point effort this season tying his career-high with his two points.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State returns to Pegula Ice Arena next weekend for a Big Ten series against No. 10 Notre Dame on Friday and Saturday evening.
  • Tickets are still available for as low as $18 and can be purchased HERE.

For more information on the 2021-22 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.