SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Senior captain Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) tallied a pair of goals to help lead No. 5 Penn State past No. 19 Notre Dame, 5-2, in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Compton Family Ice Arena.
Penn State improves to 15-4-0 on the year and 7-4-0 in Big Ten play with the victory while the Irish drop to 7-8-2 overall and 3-5-1 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Irish opened the scoring in the first period as Jesse Lansdell walked the goal line before roofing a backhanded shot over the glove of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 1-0 edge at the 13:28 mark of the frame.
- Penn State took the lead heading into the first intermission with a pair of goals just 74 apart late in the opening stanza as senior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) skated into the slot and kept his shot on the ice as it slipped under Irish goaltender Ryan Bischel at 17:30 before DeNaples blasted a shot from the blue line that beat Bischel past the blocker at 18:44 for the 2-1 edge.
- Notre Dame evened the score late in the second period with a powerplay tally from Ryder Rolston as he went short side from the slot past the glove of Souliere for the 2-2 score at the 18:08 mark.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead thanks to a strong forecheck by senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) and McMenamin with the former finding classmate Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) at the welcome mat for the 3-2 lead at 12:14 of the third period.
- Penn State put the game on ice with a pair of empty net goals just 39 seconds apart as freshman Dylan Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) sent one into the empty cage from 185 feet away at 17:50 before DeNaples sealed the 5-2 victory with a backhanded flick from his defensive blue line at 18:29 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
Souliere moves to 13-3-0 on the year after making 29 saves in the victory while Bischel drops to 7-8-1 following a 36-save performance.
NOTES
- The Nittany Lions held the 39-31 edge in shots on goal, but were unable to capitalize on three man-advantage opportunities while Notre Dame cashed in on its lone powerplay of the night.
- Lansdell's opening goal marked just the fifth time in 19 games this season that Penn State has failed to score first. The Nittany Lions are now 3-2-0 in such games.
- The Nittany Lions snap a five-game regular-season losing skid in South Bend with the victory moving to 5-10-1 all-time at Compton Family Ice Arena. Penn State will look to sweep Notre Dame for the first time ever tomorrow evening.
- Penn State scored two empty net goals for the first time since January 9, 2021 at Ohio State.
- The two goals for DeNaples mark the ninth and tenth of his career as he moves into a tie with Clayton Phillips for sixth on the all-time goals list for defensemen at Penn State.
- The two-goal game is the first multi-goal game of DeNaples' career and marks his first multi-point effort of the season and the fourth of his career.
- With one goal and one assist, McMenamin collects his fourth multi-point effort of the season and the 10th of his career.
- The Nittany Lions remain unbeaten in the first game of a series this year improving to 10-0-0 in opening games this season.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to Compton tomorrow evening to close out the weekend series with a 6 p.m. puck drop. Penn State will then take the next three weeks off before hitting the ice against for a home-and-home series against No. 20 RIT on December 30-31.
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.