UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – On Thursday night, the Niagara Purple Eagles hockey team and the No. 14/15 Penn State Nittany Lions for the first time since a 1-1 tie last season at Dwyer Arena. Niagara was outshot 58-23 in the contest, and Guillaume Therien made 53 saves in goal as the Purple Eagles fell 5-1 at the Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State scored the first goal of the contest 2:35 into the first period. After a Niagara rush was negated at the Penn State end, the Nittany Lions came back on a 3-on-2 rush. From the right wing, Zach Saar found Ricky DeRosa in front of the net for a quick shot that found the back of the net.
Andrew Sturtz made it 2-0 Penn State just over four minutes later, driving wide against the Niagara defense and burying a deke for the goal.
Niagara found a pair of strong chances off of power plays in the first period. Johnny Curran had a shot gloved by Penn State’s Chris Funkey on a 2-on-1, and TJ Sarcona had a wide-open one-timer from the low slot, but he was turned away by a right pad save. With Sturtz looking to make it 3-0 Penn State late in the first period off the same move he scored on earlier in the period. Therien robbed Sturtz on the chance, clamping down on the puck with his glove. Therien finished the first period with 14 saves.
The Purple Eagles drew to within one at the 5:42 mark of the second period. Derek Brown dug a puck out from behind the Penn State goal, and Sean King pulled it out front to the slot. King found Kris Spriggs all alone on the back door, and the freshman converted for his third goal of the season.
Penn State outshot Niagara 28-8 in the second period. Therien made 22 straight saves to open the middle stanza, but Penn State got a pair of goals in the final 2:07 of the period, both coming from Denis Smirnov.
Niagara’s forward line of Spriggs, Brown, and King generated two great chances early in the third period, but Funkey kept Penn State at a three-goal advantage.
Therien made 13 saves in the third period, but a defensive breakdown at the 14:56 mark led to a Penn State goal by Dylan Richard, capping the scoring at 5-1.
The Purple Eagles and Nittany Lions return to Pegula Ice Arena for the second game of the week on Friday. Opening puck drop is set for 7 p.m. Fans can hear the action from Jeremy White live on 1340 AM WLVL.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
