PITTSBURGH — The red-hot Penn State Nittany Lions stayed true to form on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena as they looked impressive in a solid 5-2 victory over the Robert Morris Colonials, taking points for the seventh game in a row in a showcase game at PPG Arena.
The Lions found goals from five different players in a balanced attack that saw them out shoot the Colonials by a 42-30 margin while getting timely saves from goaltender Peyton Jones.
“I’m just really happy to get out with a win,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. “We knew they’d come out firing which they did and we needed some big saves early to keep us in the game, but after that we started to get our stride and it was a big win for us.”
The Colonials seized the early lead on a goal from Michael Louria who cleaned up a rebound near the crease at the 13:11 mark. It would be the only Colonial lead of the night though as Penn State was able to withstand a strong first period from Robert Morris and then take the game over progressively over the remaining 40 minutes.
“I thought we had a really good first period, it was outstanding,” Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley said. “I thought we played with a lot of energy and emotion and I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought we got a little loose in the second and really what was the tipping point of the game was odd man rushes and not playing away from the puck. Obviously on the last goal we were pressing and we got a bad bounce on the fourth goal. We played the whole first period, and then in spurts after that.”
The lack of consistency hurt the chances for a Colonials comeback following a trio of Penn State goals off the sticks of Nate Sucese, Sam Sternschein, and James Gobetz in the second frame while at the other end of the rink, Jones turned all 12 Robert Morris shots aside with relative ease.
“You can’t relax and you can’t let up,” Schooley said. “We have to be good away from the puck at all times. We can’t take anything off or it ends up in our net.”
For the 18th-ranked Nittany Lions, the game served as a continuation of a stretch of play that has seen them find the recipe to their success over the past few years, a recipe that seemed a bit lost in the early portion of the season.
Colorado Avalanche draft selection Denis Smirnov and Chase Berger finished out the scoring with a pair of timely goals to open and close out the third period score sheet. The goals sandwiched Colonial forward Brady Ferguson’s tally to pull his team to within two goals late in the third period.
“We were missing some of our identity early and I don’t necessarily know the reason for it, Gadowsky said. “It’s something that as a program we really hadn’t had to with, expectations. Then we won the Big 10 last year and had a pretty good showing in the NCAA tournament and I think expectations changed and possibly our own memory of what made us successful changed. But I think now, we’re back to our identity with what’s been happening lately.”
The win allowed Penn State to draw closer in the all-time series which the Colonials lead 4-3-0. The Lions can equalize that Saturday night at their home rink and are expecting another hard-fought game against their in-state rivals.
“You know you’re in for a hard fought, tough game, we always have been,” Gadowsky said. “You’re not going to get a boring game from these two teams, there’s no way. The teams get it into it from the drop of the puck, there’s no wait and I expect it will be the same (Saturday) night.”
AHC roundup
American International 3, Mercyhurst 1
The American International Yellow Jackets wasted no time in getting on top of the visiting Mercyhurst Lakers as Joel Kocur beat Laker goaltender Brandon Wildung just :29 into the game and once on top, the Yellow Jackets stayed there.
American International held the Lakers in check with a meager 14 shots while racking up 32 of their own as a power play goal from Blake Christiansen and an empty net tally from Jared Pike would prove to be all the goals they would need in their 3-1 victory.
Josh Lammon accounted for the lone Mercyhurst goal when he knocked in a loose puck in front halfway through the third period to stave off the shutout.
Canisius 4, Niagara 2
The Canisius Golden Griffins surged ahead of the homestanding Niagara Purple Eagles with three goals in the final frame to seal a critical 4-2 victory. It was Canisius’s ninth win in a row over their rival.
Nick Hutchinson’s tally with 10:29 in regulation proved to be the game winner as Dylan McLaughlin, Ryan Schmelzer and Jimmy Mazza added goals for the Griffins. Daniel Urbani stopped 27 of 29 shots in the victory.
Merrimack 4, Army West Point 1
After falling behind following a first period goal from Army forward Brendan Soucie, the Merrimack Warriors proceeded to rattle off four straight goals from four different players on the score sheet en route to a solid 4-1 road victory over Army.
The Warriors were an efficient three for seven with the man advantage, while in the net, Craig Pantano stopped 18 of 19 Black Knight shots to preserve the win.
No. 9 Providence 8, RIT 3
Brian Pinho and Scott Conway each scored twice for the Providence Friars in a 8-3 victory over the visiting RIT Tigers. Hayden Hawkey stopped 18 of 20 Tiger shots to collect the victory.
Ben Mirageas added a goal and two assists for the Friars who improved to 10-6-1 on the season.
