Penn State Hockey Final Score: Lions Fall To Wisconsin, Split Series

The No. 14 Penn State hockey team (20-10-4) was unable to come back from an early 4-1 deficit against the Wisconsin Badgers, forcing them to leave Madison with a series split rather than a sweep.

Newly named starting goalie Eamon McAdam was pulled 25 minutes into the game after allowing four goals on 12 shots. Chris Funkey came into the game and held Wisconsin scoreless for the remaining 35 minutes of the game, giving Penn State a chance to mount a comeback.

Penn State threw the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, the laundry room and slop sink at the Badgers but ultimately came up one goal short of the comeback.

Late in the game Andrew Sturtz made a great individual effort to cut the lead to one goal at 4-3. With time running out it was Sturtz who had the final scoring chance but it fell short and Wisconsin won for just the second time in conference play.

PSU will take on Michigan next weekend in a series that may determine whether Guy Gadowsky's squad makes the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid (though a Big Ten tournament championship would guarantee them a spot, as well).

Game Synopsis

Wisconsin got the first advantage when Eric Autio was called for boarding five minutes into the game. The Lions killed the penalty and the very next time down the ice got a goal when Kenny Brooks scored on a great pass from Chase Berger.

Shortly after the goal Kevin Kerr was dealt a very soft interference penalty and the Lions went on the penalty kill. Midway through the power play, Wisconsin made the mistake count as Jedd Soleway scored to tie the game at one apiece.

Jason Ford got the Badgers the lead when he scored on a rebound off a Seamus Malone shot that Eamon McAdam could not hold onto.

The teams skated for the next twenty minutes without either team holding an advantage in momentum. Five minutes into the second period, Wisconsin extended the lead to 3-1 after Aidan Cavallini made a great pass to Matthew Freytag.

A minute later Corbin McGuire got another shot past McAdam and the Badger lead was 4-1 with 34 minutes left in the game. Coach Guy Gadowsky called timeout following the goal to settle the team down.

Chris Funkey replaced McAdam in net when the team came out after the timeout. It was a disappointing outing for the newly-named starting goalie and New York Islander draft pick McAdam. In his place, Funkey played a great game, including this amazing save that preceded another great save by Badger goalie Matt Jurusik. It's not very often that goalies make matching saves while reaching out with their stick on back to back plays.

Funkey played a nice game in relief of McAdam, including a save on NHL-bound freshman phenom Luke Kunin midway through the final period on a clear breakaway.

With just under eleven minutes to play in the game the Lions got a power-play goal on a great pair of passes. David Glen got the puck in low to Andrew Sturtz, who then passed cross-ice to a waiting David Goodwin who finished the designed play.

The teams battled hard for the next five minutes until Penn State was called for a penalty. With fewer than two minutes left in the game, trailing by two and killing a penalty, Andrew Sturtz scored a short-handed goal to get the Lions to within one at 4-3.

With one minute remaining in the game Penn State went on the power play and pulled goalie Funkey to gain a two-man advantage but were unable to score a tying goal.