Nittany Lions goalie Lain Soulere stopped 23 of 24 shots as No. 5 Penn State men’s hockey swept a home-and-home series with No. 20 RIT, coming up with a 3-1 victory on Saturday evening at the Pegula Ice Arena.
In the first period, Penn State (17-5) got on the board first when Chase McLane scored on a goal assisted by Alex Servanago. Much like the previous night, Penn State controlled the action throughout most of the game and limited RIT’s (12-6) opportunities.
Penn State scored their second of the game in the second period when Alex Dergano scored on a slap shot assisted by Christian Sarlo and Paul DeNaples.
The Nittany Lions would take a comfortable 2-0 advantage into the locker room.
However, in the third period, RIT were able to draw within one on a shorthanded goal from Tyler Mahan. After the goal, Penn State hunkered down and again dominated play and were able to salt the game away when Connor McMenamin scored an empty net goal with 55.7 seconds left in the game. Senior forward Kevin Wall, who had two goals in the first game against RIT the previous night, got the lone assist on the play.
Penn State controlled the game from start to finish much like Friday night and swept the home home-and-home series and finished undefeated in non-conference play. RIT scored only two goals in the series, both coming while shorthanded.
Penn State will play Michigan State next on the road in a doubleheader on the weekend of Jan.13-14 in East Lansing.
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