POTSDAM, N.Y. – No. 18 Penn State raced out to a three-goal lead midway through the contest and sustained a late push from Clarkson to escape this Friday the 13th with a 4-2 road victory in non-conference action at Cheel Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the second-straight game to open the season, Penn State (2-0-0) gets on the board first as junior Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) jammed home a rebound off classmate Ryan Kirwan's (DeWitt, N.Y.) initial chance for the 1-0 edge at 15:52 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions extended the lead midway through the second period as junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) feathered a sauce pass to senior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and the alternate captain finished shortside past the blocker of Clarkson goaltender Austin Roden for the 2-0 advantage at the 7:20 mark.
- Penn State continued to push the pace and converted on the powerplay as Kirwan sniped a wicked wrister from above the left circle over the glove of Roden for the 3-0 margin at 12:47 of the middle frame.
- The Golden Knights (1-2-0) finally cut into the deficit with a man-advantage tally of their own as Ellis Rickwood finished past the blocker of Nittany Lion senior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) from the slot for the 3-1 score at the 14:48 mark.
- Clarkson cut the deficit to a single goal, 3-2, midway through the third period as Ryan Taylor beat Souliere past the blocker off the rush at 10:04 of the stanza.
- Senior Chase McLane (Trenton, Mich.) hit the empty net with 51.1 seconds remaining in the final frame to seal the victory.
GOALTENDING
Souliere improves to 2-0-0 on the year after stopping 21 shots while Roden falls to 1-2-0 after making 39 saves in the defeat.
NOTES
- Penn State has now opened the scoring in both games so far this season moving to 2-0-0 when doing so.
- The Nittany Lions held the commanding 43-23 advantage in shots on goal while going 1-for-4 with the man-advantage. Clarkson was also 1-for-4 on the powerplay.
- Penn State secures its first ever victory at Cheel Arena moving to 1-1-0 in two games in Potsdam as the Nittany Lions are now 4-1-0 with three-straight victories over the Golden Knights.
- Lugris collected his first career multi-point effort with a pair of assists setting career highs for points and assists.
- With one goal and one assist, Kirwan registered his second-consecutive multi-point effort to start the season and the 11th of his career.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains in the North Country as the Nittany Lions battle St. Lawrence tomorrow night at 7 p.m. to close out their season opening three-game road swing. Tomorrow's contest will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
For more information on the 2023-24 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.