Penn State traveled to South Bend for a big non-conference showdown with No. 3 Notre Dame Friday night in Compton Family Ice Arena.

Guy Gadowsky’s Nittany Lions (2-1-1) raced out to a 3-1 lead, but the Fighting Irish rallied back to tie things up at 3-3, with overtime not being enough to decide a winner.

How It Happened

Freshman Nikita Pavlychev wasted little time giving Penn State a 1-0 advantage, as the imposing forward out of Yaroslavl, Russia, found the back of the net on a powerplay just 2:16 into the game. Pavlychev bested junior Cal Petersen for his first goal of the season in a 7-0 win over Mercyhurst last Friday in Erie.

Jake Evans would respond roughly 13 minutes later to tie things up at 1-1 with an impressive short-handed shot past freshman netminder Peyton Jones. He would finish his night with a game-high 30 saves. Both sides spent the first half of the second period battling it out in transition and along the boards. Senior Dylan Richard, who started at center for the Nittany Lions, delivered an enormous go-ahead goal at the 10:35 mark. Richard was at it again less than eight minutes later, finishing off his second goal of the evening on assists from Denis Smirnov and Kevin Kerr. Smirnov would go on to post a game-high two assists.

But just when the Nittany Lions started to feel good about their 3-1 lead, Notre Dame dialed up an immediate response :39 seconds after Richard’s cushion. Sophomore Andrew Oglevie’s fourth goal of the season gave head coach Jeff Jackson’s Fighting Irish the boost they needed just before the end of the period. Penn State would surrender a late goal to Jordan Gross that tied things up at 3-3 with seven minutes and change left on the clock. That tally would hold through regulation and overtime.

Penn State continued to struggle in the faceoff circle, surrendering 37 of 57 puck drops to Jackson’s bunch. The Fighting Irish managed to pull out a slim 33-32 advantage in the shots department as well. Stars (first through third) were awarded to Gross, Richard, and Evans, respectively.

Player Of The Game

Dylan Richard | Senior | Center

The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native was phenomenal Friday night, leading all players with two goals in the hard-fought tie.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will be back on the ice Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. for the series finale. Notre Dame will join the Big Ten for men’s hockey next season.