ERIE, Pa. – Four different goal scorers paced No. 20 Penn State to a 4-1 victory and series sweep against Mercyhurst in non-conference action on Friday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State (4-0-0) opened the scoring for the fourth-straight game to start the season as senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) netted his fourth goal in as many games for the 1-0 edge at 17:16 of the first period. Wall cleaned up the rebound by the near post after sophomore Ryan Kirwan's (DeWitt, N.Y.) initial shot was turned aside and slipped it past the right pad of Laker goaltender Owen Say.
- The Nittany Lions extended their lead early in the second period as senior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) wrapped the puck on net and it came out to senior Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) who was all alone in the slot and he slotted the puck past the blocker of Say for the 2-0 margin at the 3:48 mark.
- Mercyhurst (0-6-0) cut the deficit in half early in the third period as Rylee St. Onge scored just 13 seconds into a powerplay opportunity making the score 2-1 at the 2:48 mark.
- Penn State regained the two-goal advantage as junior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) intercepted a d-to-d pass at the blueline and skated in on a 2-on-0 rush where he fed classmate Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) for the easy finish into a yawning net and the 3-1 lead at 13:27 of the third period.
- Senior Ashton Calder (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) sealed the victory with a 185-foot empty netter at 18:23 to account for the final score.
GOALTENDING
Junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) ran his record to 3-0-0 on the year after stopping 19-of-20 shots while his counterpart, Say, falls to 0-1-0 after a 42-save performance in his collegiate debut.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 46-20 edge in shots on goal giving them a 97-43 margin over the course of the series. The Nittany Lions went 0-for-1 on the powerplay while the Lakers were 1-for-3 with the man-advantage.
- The goal for DeNaples is the eighth of his career as he moves into a tie for seventh on the Penn State all-time goal scoring list for defensemen.
- With the secondary assist on DeNaples' second period tally, sophomore Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) extends his career-best point streak, which has carried over from the end of last season, to seven games.
- With a goal in his fourth-straight game to open the season, Wall has tied his career-long goal scoring streak of four games and is just one game shy of his career-best point streak of five games.
- Linden also now has points in each of his first four games as a Nittany Lion to tie his career-best point streak and with at least one assist in each game this season he now has a career-long four game assist streak.
- Penn State is now 4-1-0 all-time against Mercyhurst and 45-15-2 all-time against Atlantic Hockey teams while improving to 43-14-4 in the month of October.
- With his goal DeNaples leaps teammate Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) for eighth on the all-time points list for Nittany Lion defensemen with 36 points.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home for another Thursday-Friday series next week against the visiting University of St. Thomas Tommies. Puck drop slated for 7 p.m. each night.
For more information on the 2022-23 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: 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.