WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif) scored twice as Penn State defeated Army West Point, 4-1, in non-conference action on Thursday evening inside Capital One Arena as part of the inaugural Capital Hockey Classic.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State (7-9-0) opened the scoring as graduate student Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) flicked a wrister on net from the blue line and with senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) providing a screen out front the puck snuck through Black Knight goaltender JJ Cataldo for the 1-0 edge just 1:27 into the contest.
- The Nittany Lions doubled the lead in the second period as senior classmates Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) and Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) caused a neutral zone turnover and senior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) collected the loose puck and skated into the offensive zone before ripping a wicked wrister off the crossbar and in over the blocker of Cataldo for the 2-0 edge at the 13:08 mark.
- Penn State pushed the lead to 3-0 taking advantage of a miscue from Cataldo during a powerplay as sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) caused a turnover and found classmate Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) alone out front and he snuck a shot through the arm of Cataldo at the 17:29 mark.
- Army (5-11-0) cut into the deficit just after the powerplay expired as Joey Baez ripped a shot over the glove of Nittany Lion junior net-minder John Seifarth (Pittsburgh, Pa.) for the 3-1 score at 18:20 of the middle frame.
- Laubach then hit the empty net with 2:45 remaining in the game to seal the 4-1 victory for the Nittany Lions.
GOALTENDING
Seifarth Improves to 3-2-0 on the year following a 30-save effort in the victory while Cataldo slips to 5-5-0 on the year after stopping 26 shots in the defeat.
NOTES
- Army held the slim 31-30 edge in shots on goal while neither team converted with the man-advantage with Penn State going 0-for-2 and Army going 0-for-1.
- Laubach’s shorthanded tally is the fourth of the season for Penn State which is now tied for third in the nation just one behind Clarkson and UConn.
- With a pair of goals Laubach secured his second multi-goal game of the season and the third of his career as it also marked his third multi-point effort of the season and the eighth of his career.
- The first period goal for Dowd is his first of the season and the 12th of his career as he moves into a tie with Trevor Hamilton ’18 for fifth on the all-time goals list for Penn State defensemen. Dowd now has 69 points for his career just nine shy of Cole Hults for the top-spot all-time for Nittany Lion blueliners.
- With one goal and one assist, Lugris secures his first multi-point effort this season and just the second of his career tying his career-best with two points.
- Schoen collected a pair of assists marking his first multi-point game of the season and the 10th of his career.
- Penn State is now 7-1-0 on the year in non-conference games and have only a two-game set with Canisius in January left in non-con for the year.
NEXT UP
Penn State takes the next three weeks off for the holidays before resuming Big Ten play on the road with the Frozen Confines game against Notre Dame at Wrigley Field on January 3 followed by the series finale against the Irish in South Bend on January 5.
For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.