Lions earn exhibition win
In an exhibition game with 96 face-offs and hardly any flow, Penn State defeated Ohio, 5-3, Saturday night at a packed Greenberg Ice Pavilion.
After defeating the Bobcats decisively in Hershey Friday night, 6-1, the Nittany Lions came out flat in the rematch.
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"I'm going to take positives out of the third period, but no one is proud of the way we started," Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I did not enjoy all the whistles, and there was no flow to the game."
Just as it did Friday night, Penn State fell behind early. The Bobcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Derek Rahme goal 1:48 into the game.
However, Penn State did not hang its head for long. Thirty-five seconds later, freshman forward Casey Bailey responded with the first of two goals on the night.
Later in the first period, George Saad put a shot past Bobcats goalie Fedor Dushkin after a rebound off the backboard came straight to Saad's wound-up stick.
Penn State let its guard down again early in the second period. The Nittany Lions allowed the Bobcats to tie the score 1:53 into the period off a power-play goal by Tyler Pilmore. Captain Tommy Olczyk was called for holding to set up the power play.
Brett Agnew scored 38 seconds into the third period to give Ohio a 3-2 lead, but Peter Sweetland responded for Penn State, tying the score at the 9:27 mark. "I faked a shot and moved a little right, then got the shot on net," Sweetland said.
After a David Glen shot, Curtis Loik's scored the winner off a nifty wrap-around goal at 15:06.
"I don't think he had his best game, but that was huge goal," Gadowsky said. "It was a great play by Loik to get the puck on net from a bad angel and jump on the rebound. I was real glad he was in the lineup tonight."
Bailey finished off the scoring with an empty-netter with 47 seconds left. For the game, the Nittany Lions outshot Ohio, 53-37.
With its victory, Penn State improved its exhibition record to 4-2, while its Division I record remains at 10-13-0. Ohio falls to 22-7-3.
The Nittany Lions have had some issues when playing doubleheaders against exhibition opponents. This was the first time they swept a non-Division I team.
Gadowsky said he isn't happy with his team's penchant for slow starts. He said it shouldn't matter who the Nittany Lions are playing.
"I like what Billy Downey had to say about jerseys: 'It shouldn't matter if you're playing Michigan State or Ohio University. If you have the Nittany Lion on your chest, that trumps everything,' " Gadowsky said.
Penn State's next game is against Alabama Huntsville at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion.