No. 15 Penn State (4-5-0, 2-2-0 B1G) took on the Mercyhurst Lakers (3-2-2, 1-1-2 Atlantic) Friday night. Despite outshooting Mercyhurst 54-29, Penn State was unable to convert its shots into the necessary goals and lost 7-4. Penn State goals came from Andrew Sturtz, Erik Autio, Nikita Pavlychev, and Sam Sternchein. Cole Hults contributed three assists before getting thrown out of the game in the third period with a game misconduct.

How It Happened

Mercyhurst started the scoring early thirteen seconds into the game off a Penn State turnover. Jonathan Charbonneau put the Lakers up with the assists from Derek Barach and Jack Riley.

With 5:28 to go in the first period, Nikita Pavlychev and Joseph Duszak took offsetting penalties opening space on the ice with two minutes of four-on-four competition. With 4:32 to go in the period, Mercyhurst increased its lead with a goal by Joshua Lammon assisted by Les Lancaster and Taylor Best.

Mercyhurst was able to increase their lead to 3-0 with 3:01 to go in the first period with Zach Todd’s first goal of the season. Nathan Ferriero and Les Lancaster picked up the assists on the third goal. Coach Guy Gadowsky pulled goalie Peyton Jones and replaced him with backup Chris Funkey.

The Nittany Lions were able to get a goal back quickly with 2:28 to go in the first period with a goal scored by Andrew Sturtz assisted by Kris Myllari and goaltender Chris Funkey.

Penn State continued to pour shots on goal resulting with a goal by Erik Autio with 2:00 minutes remaining in the first. Cole Hults and Brandon Biro picked up the assists on Autio’s goal to bring the Lion within one goal.

The first period ended with Mercyhurst ahead 3-2, but Penn State had a huge lead of 22-6 in shots on goal.

Mercyhurst scored first again in the second period with Zach Todd’s second goal of the game 3:38 into the period.

The Nittany Lions drew a penalty on Mercyhurst’s Jack Riley for hooking giving them a power play 4:58 into the period and were able to capitalize on the power play bringing the game back within a goal. Nikita Pavlychev scored with the man advantage 6:09 into the period assisted by Nate Sucese and Cole Hults.

Mercyhurst answered the Lions goal with 8:54 remaining in the period to increase their lead to 5-3. The Laker’s goal was scored by Derek Barach assisted by Jack Riley and Jonathon Charbonneau.

Penn State was able to score again thanks to their large volume of shots. Sam Sternschein’s snipe with 2:34 remaining in the second period brought the score to 5-4 [Update: The goal was given to Limoges off the deflection]. Cole Hults and Evan Barratt picked up the assists on Sternschein’s goal.

The second period ended with each team adding two goals to their scores. Mercyhurst still led by one goal with a 5-4 advantage, but Penn State continued to throw pucks on the net increasing their shots advantage to 42-20.

Mercyhurst took advantage of Cole Hults’s five-minute game misconduct in the third period and scored on Les Lancasters powerplay goal to increase their lead to 6-4 with 7:10 remaining. With 1:24 remaming, Mercyhurst once again scored increasing the score to 7-4 with a goal scored by Les Lancaster on the powerplay.

Player Of The Game

Cole Hults | Freshman | Defenseman

Hults was bright spot for the Nittany Lions as he assisted on three of Penn State’s four goals. Hults also led the team with a +2 rating on the game. 

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions are back in action Saturday night at 7 p.m. as they finish the series against Mercyhurst.