The losing streak may have ended, but it definitely wasn’t the result that Penn State wanted. The Nittany Lions failed to hold on to a 3-2 lead in the third period and tied the RIT Tigers (0-3-2) 3-3 after both teams went scoreless in the five minute overtime period. Penn State now stands at 1-2-1 on the year.

Penn State center Dylan Richard made the score 1-0 six minutes into the first period with his first goal of the season. A nice pass from defensemen Patrick Koudys sprung Richard, who then dangled his way through several RIT defenders and slid the puck past RIT goalie Jordan Ruby (31 saves, .911 save %). However, penalties continued to prove costly for Penn State in the first as both Adam Mitchell and Mike Colavecchia of RIT notched power play goals to make the score 2-1.

Penn State took six penalties in the first period, including a game misconduct from center David Glen for kneeing that carried over into the second period.

The Nittany Lions were able to kill 4:30 of the remaining Glenn penalty, which swung momentum Penn State’s way. The action went back and forth for several minutes until Penn State was able to draw a hooking penalty, where center David Goodwin scored on a 3 on 2 to make the score 2-2. Forward Eric Scheid hit Goodwin with a nice pass from the wing, who promptly buried it past Ruby.

With twelve minutes left in the third, Penn State got on the board again with a fluke goal from forward Curtis Loik. In an attempt to dump the puck into the zone, Loik lobbed a wrister towards Ruby that ended up hitting the top of his pad and bouncing into the top corner.

Unfortunately, Penn State was unable to hang on to the lead as RIT forward Brad McGowan backhanded one past goaltender Matthew Skoff (21 saves, .875 save %) to make the game 3-3.

After a scoreless remainder of the third, the game headed to overtime. Both teams could only muster one shot each during the overtime period, and the game ultimately ended in a tie.

It’s important to note that while there was a shootout for this game (which Penn State lost 2-0), it did not change the end result. According to NCAA rule 91.3, if neither team scores in the five minute overtime period, the game will officially end in a tie. However, this rule can be waived if a conference’s policy allows for a shootout to break the tie, which is the case for the Big Ten. So while this shootout may have been meaningless since RIT is an out of conference opponent, it’ll be good practice for Big Ten play come December.

“Four games in, I’ve learned we have a lot more to learn,” said coach Guy Gadowsky after the game. “There are certain things that we want to accomplish that we haven’t touched yet.”

Still, Gadowsky was able to look at the positives after a mediocre 1-2-1 start to the season.

“I do like what we’re getting from the new guys,” he said. “We’re getting some production from some new faces which is certainly the depth that we had hoped for.”

Penn State will take on the Vermont Catamounts (0-1-1) in Philadelphia tomorrow at the Wells Fargo Center. Puck drops at 5:00 PM.