UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) netted the game-winning goal late in the third period as No. 6 Penn State defeated Notre Dame, 3-2, in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 18-7-1 overall and 8-7-1-0-2-0 in Big Ten play while The Irish drop to 11-12-3 on the year and 6-8-2-1-0-1 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Irish opened the scoring with a powerplay tally as Trevor Janicke ripped a one-timer shortside past the blocker of Nittany Lion junior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 1-0 edge at 5:28 of the first period.
- Penn State evened the score early in the middle frame as sophomore Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) finished off a great feed from junior Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) during an odd-man rush for the 1-1 score at the 3:12 mark.
- Notre Dame regained the lead seconds after a powerplay chance expired as Chayse Primeau was left alone in front and redirected a pass from Justin Janicke past Souliere for the 2-1 advantage at 6:42 of the second period.
- The Nittany Lions evened the score heading into the second intermission as a pair of seniors connected for the equalizer with Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) finding Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) who laced a shot over the blocker of Ryan Bischel from the right faceoff dot for the 2-2 score at 18:10 of the middle frame.
- The game remained tied late into the third period before junior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) one-touched the puck back to Sarlo behind the net and he wrapped one around the far post that slipped through the five-hole of Bischel and trickled across the goal line for the 3-2 lead at the 14:33 mark.
GOALTENDING
Souliere improves to 16-6-1 on the year after turning aside 27-of-29 shots in the victory while Bischel drops to 11-12-2 following a 42-save effort.
NOTES
- The 6,566 fans that packed Pegula on Saturday night set a new attendance record surpassing the 6,558 fans who attended the game Friday night.
- Penn State held the commanding 45-31 edge in shots on goal, but were unable to capitalize on a pair of man-advantage chances while Notre Dame went 1-for-4 on the powerplay.
- With Notre Dame opening the scoring it marked just the seventh time in 26 games this season including all four against the Irish that Penn State has failed to score first. The Nittany Lions are now 4-4-0 in such games.
- The win is the second-straight for Penn State in a 'Wear White' game as the Nittany Lions improve their record to 3-5-1 all-time in such games.
- The Saturday victory is also the first for Penn State in Big Ten action snapping a winless streak of six games and moving to 1-5-1 in conference games that are played on Saturday.
- Penn State improves to 7-4-1 this season in games decided by one goal or less.
NEXT UP
Penn State hits the road for its next four games with a stop in Ann Arbor to battle the No. 8 Michigan Wolverines next weekend.
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.