After battling to a 2-2 tie on Thursday, the Penn State men’s hockey team fell 4-2 to a more prepared St. Lawrence team in the series finale.

How it happened

Both teams had chances early to get their teams on the board, but both goaltenders were up for the challenge. Penn State
had the first few opportunities of the night, but chances by David Goodwin and Eric Scheid were stopped by St. Lawrence goaltender Kyle Hayton. Shortly after, Eamon McAdam stopped a great breakaway chance by Mike Marnell.

Finally, with less than two minutes to play in the first, St. Lawrence broke through. A Smolcynski shot that was going
wide deflected off of Alex Hagen’s body and past a helpless Eamon McAdam to put the Saints ahead 1-0.

The second period saw much more action and scoring. Penn State had four power plays, and came up even on them. Sean McGovern scored a shorthanded breakaway goal to put the Saints up 2-0, but Kenny Brooks responded for the home team just 24 seconds later. After having his first shot denied, Brooks corralled the rebound and flipped it over Hayton’s glove to halve the visitors’ lead.

Six minutes later, the Nittany Lions played their “best shift of the night” — according to head coach Guy Gadowsky — and it paid off. David Goodwin shot the puck off Hayton’s pad on a 2-on-1, and Luke Juha buried the rebound to tie the game. Juha’s first goal of the season send the sold-out crowd into a frenzy.

But ultimately, the Saints were more battle-tested, and handled the Nittany Lions the entire third period. Two goals gave the team a 4-2 lead, and a suffocating defense didn’t allow the Nittany Lions to get anything going in the third. Penn State got 18 shots, but nothing really materialized from them, and St. Lawrence left Pegula with the win.

“We didn’t have a really good week of practice,” Gadowsky said after the game. “That one is on me. We weren’t prepared to play a battle-tested team. They were ready to play… We were outbattled, and that’s unacceptable.”

Player of the game

It’s not often the losing goaltender is the player of the game, but Eamon McAdam was the best Nittany Lion on the ice. He made 35 saves, and kept the team in the game despite the defense allowing at least five breakaways.

“I thought Eamon was the best player on the ice,” Gadowsky said. “When your goaltender is the best player on the ice and you lose, that’s concerning.”

What’s next?

Penn State travels to Niagara for a one-game series next Friday,, November 6.