UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) tallied the eventual game-winning goal while adding an assist as the seventh-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions held off a late rally for a 3-2 victory over the Alaska Nanooks in non-conference action on Tuesday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State improves to 12-3-0 on the year and a perfect 7-0-0 in non-conference play while Alaska drops to 5-6-2 overall with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State once again opened the scoring with a transition goal as junior Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) forced a turnover at the Nittany Lion blueline and tossed the puck up ice to a streaking Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) who then centered a pass to junior Tyler Paquette (Collegeville, Pa.) for the finish and 1-0 lead at 7:09 of the first period.
- The hosts pushed the margin to 2-0 at the halfway point as sophomore Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) snapped a nine-game goalless streak as he ripped a one-timer from the low slot off a feed from junior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) at the 10:05 mark.
- The Nittany Lions extended the lead midway through the second period with their first shorthanded goal of the season as junior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) raced down an lofted puck from Paquette and skated in uncontested before slipping the puck past the right pad of Nanook net-minder Matt Radomsky for the 3-0 edge at the 8:51 mark.
- Alaska cut into the deficit as Harrison Israels was able to slip one in at the far post for the 3-1 score at 14:06 of the middle frame.
- The Nanooks made it a one-goal game early in the third period as T.J. Lloyd corralled a loose puck in the slot and dished it to Payton Matsui who had a yawning net for the 3-2 deficit at the 6:23 mark.
GOALTENDING
- Junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) runs his record to 10-3-0 on the year after stopping 25-of-27 shots while his counterpart, Radomsky, drops to 5-6-2 after making 32 saves in the setback.
- Souliere becomes just the fourth different Nittany Lion net-minder to record 10 wins in a season as he ties Oskar Autio '22 for the sixth-most victories in a single-season all-time.
- Souliere's 18 career victories are also tied with Eamon McAdam for the fourth-most all-time.
NOTES
- Gratton became the fourth different Nittany Lion this season to skate in his 100th career game on Tuesday night joining classmates Kevin Wall, Connor McMenamin and Connor MacEachern.
- Gratton also extended his point-streak to three games with his first period assist, one game shy of his career-best four-game streak from earlier this season.
- Penn State got back on track scoring the first goal of the game for the 12th time in 15 games this season improving to 11-1-0 when doing so.
- The shorthanded goal by Sarlo marks the first shorty for Penn State this season and the first since October 22, 2021 when Paquette notched a shorthanded tally in a 6-2 win against Niagara.
- With one goal and one assist, Sarlo collects his second-straight multi-point game of the season and the fifth of his career. He now has four goals and four assists for eight points in his last seven games.
- Paquette collected one goal and one assist to register his second multi-point game this season and the fifth of his career.
- Penn State held the 35-27 edge in shots on goal while going 0-for-5 on the man-advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- The Nittany Lions even their all-time record against Alaska at 2-2-0 with the Tuesday night victory.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to the ice tomorrow to close out the midweek series with a 5 p.m. puck drop at Pegula Ice Arena. Tickets are still available HERE. And as part of Blue Friday deals you can get two bleacher seat tickets in the student section for just $10.
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.