Penn State Hockey Romps Canisius 6-1

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start and were able ride it all the way for a victory.

First Period

It didn't take long for Penn State to get the scoring started. Just 1:33 in Curtis Loik got the first goal of the season for Penn State on an unassisted effort. Twenty-seven seconds later the Lions scored again, this time on a Ricky DeRosa goal on an assist by Loik. The two quick goals allowed PSU to skate a little more loosely and for the next few minutes it dominated control of the puck.

Four minutes later Chase Berger made it 3-0 in favor of PSU when he netted the first goal of his college career on an assist from senior forward Kenny Brooks and Curtis Loik.

The scoring barrage put Canisius on its heals. It wasn't until late in the period that the Golden Griffens began to threaten goalie Eamon McAdam with serious scoring attempts. McAdam was up to the task, with help from his defensemen, as several scoring chances late in the period were turned aside.

The period ended with PSU owning the advantage in score, 3-0, and also shots on goal 15-11. There were no penalties in the first period.

Second Period

One minute into the period Penn State's Mike Williamson was sent to the penalty box for interference. The Lions were able to kill off the penalty without Canisius making a serious scoring effort. The Griffens would use the penalty to flip momentum, however, and the play for the next few minutes stayed on Penn State's side of the ice.

With thirteen minutes remaining in the period Canisius' efforts almost paid off when a point-blank shot on goal was stopped only by the shaft of Eamon McAdam's goalie stick.

One minute later Canisius got its first penalty of the game when David Bennett was called for an elbow to the head. Thirty seconds later Ryan Schmelzer of Canisius was handed a five-minute game misconduct penalty for checking Dylan Richard into the boards from behind. The picture below shows Curtis Loik coming to check on Richard as the stadium fell silent, not knowing the severity of the situation. Richard was able to skate off the ice under his own power.

At this point Penn State took control of the game. Using the extra skater, David Glen scored a power play goal on an assist from David Goodwin and Kevin Kerr. Leading 4-0 and with over three minutes remaining in the misconduct penalty, the Lions didn't stop there.

David Goodwin added another power play goal on an assist from Kenny Brooks and Alec Marsh. The penalty expired soon after and for the remaining seven minutes of the period play was pretty even. Each team had a few chances to score, but neither was able to do so.

The period ended with Penn State holding a commanding 5-0 lead. Penn State, using the advantage gained by the five-minute misconduct penalty, dominated shots on goal for the period to the tune of 15-5.

Third Period

The third period started out very evenly played. The action went back and forth with very few whistles for the first ten minutes. Penn State had several chances to score but was unable to get one past Canisius goalie Reilly Turner.

With ten minutes remaining in the period Canisius went on the power play when PSU's David Goodwin was called for a two-minute holding penalty. It didn't take long for the Griffens to capitalize on the mistake, as Ralph Cuddemi scored a power play goal just twenty seconds later assisted by Cameron Heath and Dyl McLaughlin.

The energy picked up with the goal by the home team and with it the hitting increased as well. For the next several minutes each team had multiple scoring chances and the hard, clean hitting continued. It started getting chippy with four minutes remaining to play as the home team began to realize that it would not be able to climb back into the game. There were a few shoving matches after the whistle but the refs were able to keep the players from escalating it to something dangerous.

With just over two minutes remaining in the game Kenny Brooks of Penn State was called for a cross-checking penalty. The Lions were able to kill off the penalty and with less than one second left in the game scored on an unassisted goal by David Glen.

Stars of the Game

First Star- Curtis Loik (one goal, two assists)

Second Star- Eamon McAdam (27 saves)

Third Star- David Goodwin (one goal, two assists)

Notes

• The HarborCenter was filled with a majority of Penn State fans.
• Freshmen Andrew Sturtz had 72 members of his family and friends in attendance for the game in his home-town of Buffalo, one uncle traveled from Los Angeles for the occasion.
• Penn State will face-off with Notre Dame in the home opener at Pegula Ice Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m. The teams will play again on Saturday at 3 p.m.