Penn State Hockey defeats Holy Cross, 7-1

Penn State forward David Glen sped up the middle of the ice into the Holy Cross offensive zone.

With no puck in his possession, the forward trusted that his linemate, Curtis Loik, would be able to set him up correctly.

One perfect pass later, and Glen was able to get a point blank opportunity in front of Holy Cross goaltender Matt Ginn. Glen shot it right between Ginn’s legs, and the puck went right through.

Ginn looked up at the ceiling in frustration, as Glen and Loik celebrated behind the net.

It was that type of afternoon for both parties, as the Nittany Lions rolled Holy Cross in the second game of their weekend series, 7-1 for the first home sweep in Pegula Ice Arena history.

The first star of the game was freshman Scott Conway, who got his first two collegiate goals, while also playing an "agitator" role, getting under the skin of much of his Holy Cross competition.

"I try to get under their skin as much as I can," Conway said on his role.

Conway is gaining a reputation for going to any length to get the puck into the net.

"He’s got such a hunger to score," coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game.

Conway’s two goals impressed, and his presence both throughout the ice and on the power play has been welcomed by his teammates.

The freshman was happy to finally get his name onto the score sheet.

"The first one’s always the hardest one," he said.

The physical hockey became chippy hockey midway through the period as well, after defenseman Nate Jensen absolutely clocked Holy Cross forward Scott Pooley right at the Lions’ blue line. Pooley remained on the ground for a bit of time, as the Lions on the nearby bench banged their sticks against the boards.

Crusaders coach David Berard clearly saw issue with the play, which went penalty-free.

"Wake up!" he yelled across the ice at the officials.

The hostile mood within the game continued when Holy Cross forward Brett McKinnon was sent to the penalty box for pushing Lions defenseman Luke Juha to the ground.

The intense mood finally came to a head with a little over 2:00 to play in the game. Connor Varley, who had been jarring all game with various Holy Cross players, picked up a Holy Cross player who was badgering him, and slammed him to the ground. The Holy Cross player was ejected, and Varley was sent to the box for two minutes for roughing.

The Lions got on the board first at 14:49 of the second period, when forward David Goodwin fed the puck to Holstrom. Holstrom, on the move, zipped a saucer pass across the ice to Casey Bailey, who was able to finish with a one-timer for his fourth goal of the season.

The Lions struck again a few minutes later, when Curtis Loik scored on another one-timer — this one from his knees. He was assisted by two freshmen on the score, Scott Conway and Erik Autio.

Eric Scheid scored –as he tends to do—for the second time of the weekend at 3:33 of the third. The forward skated two on one down the ice with Conway, who put the puck right onto Scheid’s stick, to easily get the puck behind Holy Cross goalie Matt Ginn.

Holy Cross got on the board late, as Jake Bolton scored from the left circle through a screen. It was the only one of the Crusaders’ 30 shots to get through.

After a scrum in front of the net at 15:47 of the third, rarely-used Jacob Friedman put one in the back of the net after a scrum around the crease for his first goal of the season.

The Nittany Lion faithful finally got to see Conway’s hyped skill in full form, as well. The England native deked Ginn out of his skates at 15:13 of the third, scoring an absolutely beautiful goal that left the fans ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahh’ing from their seats. The super-freshman scored again late in the game on the power play, putting the cherry on top for Penn State, sealing the final score at 7-1.

The Lions will take on Bentley University this week, with games on Thursday and Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.