UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 15 Penn State failed to sweep an opponent for the second consecutive week dropping its non-conference series finale to Alaska-Anchorage, 6-5, at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State (5-2-0) opened the scoring as it was graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot (South Windsor, Conn.) who deposited a rebound after freshman Aiden Fink's (Calgary, Alberta) initial shot was turned aside for the 1-0 edge just 83 ticks into the contest.
- Alaska-Anchorage (4-4-0) answered just a few minutes later as Maximillion Helgeson got behind the Nittany Lion defense and roofed a backhanded effort past the blocker of senior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 1-1 score at the 4:01.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead as junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) collected an errant pass from a Seawolf defensemen right in the slot and sniped over the glove of UAA net-minder Greg Ososz for the 2-1 advantage at the 8:31 mark.
- The Seawolves once again had the quick answer as less than two minutes later Adam Tisdale found the equalizer for the 2-2 score at 10:17 of the first frame.
- Tisdale then gave the visitors their first lead of the series as he received a pass from Aiden Westin in the slot and ripped one high for the 3-2 margin at the 14:06 mark.
- Anchorage then found a late first period tally pushing the lead to 4-2 after Penn State failed to clear the defensive zone and Matt Allen beat Souliere over the glove with just five seconds remaining in the stanza.
- Penn State pulled the game back even early in the second period with two goals just about three minutes apart as senior Christian Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) potted his first goal of the season just 87 ticks into the frame before freshman Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) sniped one shorthanded for the 4-4 score at the 4:39 mark.
- The Seawolves regained the lead as Connor Marritt found the back of the net for the 5-4 edge at 14:13 of the second period.
- UAA extended the lead early in the third period as Aiden Westin ripped home a rebound just as time expired on a powerplay for the 6-4 lead at the 1:14 mark.
- Skating 6-on-4 on the powerplay with the goaltender pulled, junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) lit the lamp with just 12.6 seconds remaining in the game to account for the final score.
GOALTENDING
Souliere falls to 4-1-0 on the year after making 18 saves in the loss while Ososz was victorious in his first career start despite giving up five goals he collected 39 saves to move to 1-0-0 on the year.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 44-24 edge in shots on goal including a 20-4 clip over the final 20 minutes, while going 1-for-5 with the man-advantage and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- The Nittany Lions scored the opening goal for the fifth time in seven games this season dropping to 4-1-0 in such games.
- Graduate transfer Tanner Palocsik (Aliquippa, Pa.) skated in his 100th career NCAA contest on Friday evening.
- With his first period goal, Dzhaniyev has now scored in three-straight games, a new career-best, while extending his point streak to three games, just one shy of his career long. After adding a later assist, Dzhaniyev collects his second multi-point effort of the season and the 10th of his career.
- With a pair of assists, Fink collects his second multi-point game this season. Senior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) also added a pair of helpers to secure his first multi-point game this season and the sixth of his career.
- Berger's second period goal is marks the eighth of his career moving him into a tie for eighth all-time for goals by a Nittany Lion defenseman while his 31 career points tie him for 10th all-time by blueliners.
- Laubach's shorthanded goal is the first for the Nittany Lions since Kevin Wall scored a shorty on December December 3, 2022, against Ohio State.
- Lugris' late third period tally with the goaltender pulled goes down as an extra attacker goal as well as a man-advantage tally marking the first extra-attacker goal for Penn State since Christian Sarlo scored one at Notre Dame last December.
- The loss for the Nittany Lions is just the second in program history when scoring five or more goals in 104 instances and the first since an 8-5 loss at Wisconsin on December 1, 2018.
NEXT UP
Penn State concludes its three-week, six-game homestand as the Nittany Lions begin conference play with a Saturday-Sunday series in Hockey Valley.
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.