EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) finished at the doorstep late in the third period as No. 16 Penn State secured a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over LIU to open the 2023-24 season at the Northwell Health Ice Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State (1-0) opened the scoring late in the first period as freshman Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) redirected a point shot from graduate student Tanner Palocsik (Aliquippa, Pa.) past Shark net-minder Brandon Perrone for the 1-0 edge with just 2.7 ticks remaining in the frame.
- The Sharks (0-1) evened the contest early in the second period as Riley Wallack finished an odd-man rush with a snipe over the glove of senior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 1-1 score at the 2:49 mark.
- Less than two minutes later it was Wallack again this time sneaking a centering feed through the pads of Souliere for the 2-1 advantage at 4:55 of the middle frame.
- The Nittany Lions evened the score late in the second period as junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) finished in the slot off a beautiful backhand saucer feed from classmate Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) for the 2-2 score with just 29.1 remaining in the stanza.
- Penn State regained the lead with a powerplay tally as junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) tipped one past Perrone on the doorstep off a beautiful shot pass from Kirwan for the 3-2 edge at 14:47 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
Souliere improves to 1-0-0 on the year after stopping 16 shots while Perrone falls to 0-1-0 after making 29 saves.
NOTES
- After opening the scoring in 27-of-39 games a season ago, DiMarsico's first collegiate goal continued that trend. Penn State was 18-8-1 when scoring first last season and begin the 2023-24 campaign 1-0-0 in such games.
- The Nittany Lions imporove to 8-3-1 all-time in season opening contests and have now won three-straight while improving to 3-0-0 all-time against LIU.
- Penn State held the commanding 32-18 advantage in shots on goal including the 28-9 edge over the final two periods.
- The Nittany Lions were 1-for-4 with the man-advantage and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
- Dzhaniyev collected a pair of assists for his first multi-point game of the season and the ninth of his career.
- With one goal and one assist, Kirwan registered his first multi-point effort this season and the 10th of his career.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains on the road as they travel to the North Country next weekend for single games against Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Both games 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.