UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 19 Penn State used five-unanswered goals to erase a four-goal deficit and complete the largest comeback in program history defeating Army West Point, 7-6, in non- conference action on a snow-filled Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
Junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) led the comeback with a natural hat-trick in less than five minutes of game play and a career-best four points while freshman Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) finished the comeback with his second goal of the game midway through the third period.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions (10-7-3) opened the scoring with an early man-advantage tally as Fink wheeled up the far side and snuck a shot shortside over the shoulder of Army goaltender Gavin Abric and under the crossbar for the 1-0 edge at the 2:04 mark.
- The Black Knights (5-14-0) evened the score with a powerplay goal of their own as Mac Gadowsky fed a wide-open Jake Hewitt between the rings and he deposited the puck past the blocker of Penn State sophomore net-minder Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.) for the 1-1 score at 9:07 of the first period.
- Army then turned a pair of turnovers into goals for the 3-1 lead as Brent Keefer and Andrew Garby scored just 19 seconds apart midway through the opening stanza.
- Penn State cut the deficit in half heading into the first intermission as junior Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) sniped one over the glove of Abric from the far dot for the 3-2 score at the 17:00 mark.
- The Black Knights pushed the lead to 5-2 early in the second period with goals in quick succession again as Barron Woodring and Joey Baez scored just 14 ticks apart in the first 70 seconds of the frame.
- Army continued to pressure as Max Itagaki outbattled a Nittany Lion for a shorthanded goal and the 6-2 lead at 5:16 of the middle stanza.
- The Nittany Lions got a few back over the final seven minutes of the second period to gain momentum for the final frame as freshman Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) redirected a shot from classmate Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) at the near post for the 6-3 score at the 7:00 mark before Kirwan intercepted a pass at the offensive blue-line and sniped a shot from between the circles for the 6-4 deficit with just under two minutes remaining in the period.
- Penn State raced out of the gates in the third period as Kirwan completed the natural hat-trick scoring twice in under a minute to tie the game at 6-6 as Kirwan lit the lamp at the 1:44 mark before redirecting senior Christian Berger's (St. Louis, Mo.) shot from the point for the tying score at the 2:41 mark.
- A stretch of four-on-four play after matching roughing calls set the stage for the game-winner as Laubach wheeled back into the neutral zone dishing a pass to Fink who bolted up the far side beating three Black Knight defenders to get in alone before beating Abric past the glove for the 7-6 final at 10:01 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
- Senior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) earned the victory improving to 7-4-1 on the year after stopping 19 shots over the final 49:03 of game action.
- Grannan did not factor in the decision after stopping 6-of-9 shots over the opening 10:57.
- Abric drops to 1-8-0 on the year after making 39 saves in the defeat.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 46-31 edge in shots on goal including a 38-18 clip over the final 40 minutes of action. The Nittany Lions were 1-for-4 on the powerplay while Army went 1-for-2 with the man-advantage.
- The Nittany Lions are now 4-0-0 all-time against Army West Point and improve to 9-3-0 all-time in their first game back following winter break and are now winners of seven-straight.
- The four-goal comeback is the largest in program history surpassing the previous record of three goals, which had been accomplished twice before.
- Penn State finishes its 2023-24 non-conference schedule with an 8-2-0 record and are now an impressive 45-6-1 in non-conference play since the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
- Kirwan and Fink register their third and second multi-goal efforts this season, respectively, while it marks the sixth of Kirwan's career tying his career-best.
- For both Kirwan and Fink it also marks their sixth and seventh multi-point efforts this season and for Kirwan it becomes the 15th of his career.
- Kirwan's hat-trick is the first of his career and the 13th in program history as he joins Fink and Jacques Bouquot as the third Nittany Lion to score a hat-trick this season. The three hat-tricks for Penn State are the most in a single-season in program history.
- With a pair of assists each, DiMarsico and junior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) secure the fourth and seventh multi-point games this season. For Dzhaniyev it marks the 15th of his career.
- Graduate transfer Tanner Palocsik (Aliquippa, Pa.) also collected a pair of assists to secure his second multi-point effort this season and the 17th of his career.
- Both Laubach and Mack had one goal and one assist on the night collecting the second multi-point effort of the season for each.
- Laubach also extends his career-best point streak to four games.
- Penn State has now opened the scoring in 11 of its 20 games this season improving to 8-3-0 in such contests with the victory.
NEXT UP
Penn State remains home an resumes Big Ten Conference play with a series against No. 8 Michigan State next Friday and Saturday 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.