Penn State (1-1) traveled to Erie for its first road game of the season against Mercyhurst. The Nittany Lions were hoping to rebound from a thrashing last week against St. Lawrence, and started off the game strong to power past the Lakers 7-0.

How It Happened

6’7 freshman Nikita Pavlychev scored the first goal of his career. Despite being short handed after a high stick from Vince Pedrie, the Nittany Lions managed to score first with Pavlychev putting them up 1-0 less than four minutes into the first period. Penn State had a power play of its own later in the period. The Nittany Lions took advantage of their opportunity with Chase Berger scoring 12:57 into the period with the assist coming from David Goodwin and Kevin Kerr. Penn State ended the first period with a 2-0 lead.

The Nittany Lions added a third goal a little more than a minute into the second period. Nate Sucese got loose on the breakaway and scored a five-hole goal to put Penn State up 3-0. Sucese scored again on a four-on-four with less than seven minutes left in the period. The Nittany Lions dominated the Lakers up to this point, leading 33-8 in shots. The second period finished up with Penn State holding a 4-0 lead.

Penn State continued to pile on the goals in the third period. Both Denis Smirnov and Trevor Hamilton scored their first goals as Nittany Lions to put Penn State up 6-0 more than midway through the third period. Andrew Sturtz tacked one on with less than two minutes left. Peyton Jones, who got the start after getting pulled in the loss to St. Lawrence, bounced back to preserve the shutout and help the Nittany Lions win 7-0.

Player Of The Game

The Freshmen

Three different freshmen — Nikita Pavlychev, Nate Sucese, and Denis Smirnov — scored in the 7-0 win and freshman goalie Peyton Jones got his first collegiate shutout.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions are still on the road next weekend as they travel to South Bend for a two-game series with Notre Dame. Puck drop for both Friday and Saturday games will be at 7:05 p.m. Friday night’s meeting will be broadcast live on nbcsports.com and Saturday’s will be live on NBCSN.