Men's Hockey Completes Weekend Sweep of Canisius with, 3-2, VictoryMen's Hockey Completes Weekend Sweep of Canisius with, 3-2, Victory
Steven Walter

Men's Hockey Completes Weekend Sweep of Canisius with, 3-2, Victory

A three-goal first period was all Penn State needed as the Nittany Lions held on late to defeat Canisius, 3-2, and earn the series sweep in non-conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A three-goal first period was all Penn State needed as the Nittany Lions held on late to defeat Canisius, 3-2, and earn the series sweep in non-conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State (10-10-2) opened the scoring for the second-straight night as a strong play along the far half wall from freshman Nicholas DeGraves (Edmonton, Alberta) led to a one-timer atop the crease from classmate Keaton Peters (Sussex, Wis.) as he beat Golden Griffin net-minder Peter Wickstrom Stumer far-side past the blocker for the 1-0 advantage at 6:03 of the first period.
  • The Nittany Lions doubled the lead with a powerplay tally midway through the opening stanza as some crisp passing by freshmen classmates Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) and JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) setup senior Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) for a backdoor tap in at the 9:51 mark.
  • The hosts pushed the lead to 3-0 with a goal off the rush as sophomore Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) was the beneficiary of some tape-to-tape passing from junior Carter Schade (Mars, Pa.) and Wiebusch as he redirected a shot over the shoulder of Stumer from the net mouth at the 14:13 mark.
  • Canisius (7-13-2) cut into the deficit midway through the second period as Hunter Andrew freed himself in the slot and ripped a wrister past the blocker of Nittany Lion junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) for the 3-1 score at the 11:16 mark.
  • The Griffs made things tense late in the third period as Alec Cicero jammed home a rebound as Sergeev was down and out after a save for the 3-2 score at the 16:53 mark.
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GOALTENDING

Sergeev moves to 7-5-2 on the year after stopping all 28-of-30 shots he faced while his counterpart, Stumer, drops to 1-3-2 on the year after making 43 saves in the loss.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the commanding 46-30 advantage in shots on goal while going 1-for-2 on the man-advantage and a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
  • The Nittany Lions conclude their non-conference slate 9-1-0 on the year and a perfect 34-for-34 on the penalty kill in the 10 non-conference games.
  • Saturday night’s crowd of 6,573 is the biggest this season and the second largest in Pegula Ice Arena history just five patrons short of the all-time record.
  • The 24 shots in the first period are the most in a single period this season while the three-goal period marks the sixth time this season the Nittany Lions have scored three or more goals in a period.
  • With a pair of assists, Wiebusch secures the third multi-point effort of his career snapping a six-game pointless streak.
  • Andrew’s second period goal snapped a shutout streak of 122:24 that was spread out between the past three games.
  • Sophomore Aiden Fink (Calgary, Alberta) was held off the stat sheet for just the fourth time this season snapping his career-best seven-game point streak.
  • Penn State improves to 8-1-0 all-time against Canisius and have now won five-straight in the all-time series.
  • The Nittany Lions are a perfect 9-0-0 when leading after two periods of play this season.
  • Penn State again controlled the dot winning 57.4 percent of faceoffs in the game led by sophomore Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) who went 10-for-14 (71.4 percent) at the dot.

NEXT UP

Penn State remains home to close out its season-long six-game homestand as they resume Big Ten Conference play against the No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes in Hockey Valley next Friday and Saturday. Tickets for both games available HERE.

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.