Princeton University Athletics
Men's Hockey Rally Falls Short at No. 16 Penn State
BOX SCORE
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (12/11/15) - The Princeton men's hockey team rallied from a four-goal deficit at No. 16 Penn State, but two empty-net goals gave the Nittany Lions a 6-3 win on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
Down 4-0, Princeton rallied in the third and scored three goals in just over three minutes. Sophomores Eric Robinson and David Hallisey teamed up for the first and third goals while junior defender Quin Pompi collected his first career goal.
Robinson got things started at 4:14 of the third with a breakaway goal. After getting the puck along the boards from Hallisey, Robinson pushed past the Penn State defense and put the puck five hole on netminder Matthew Skoff.
Pompi’s goal came at 5:46 after he was left wide open at the right point. Junior Ryan Siiro passed Ryan Kuffner the puck in the corner. Kuffner saw Pompi all alone and after receiving the puck, he rifled a shot through traffic to beat Skoff gloveside.
Robinson and Hallisey made it a one-goal game at 7:31 when Hallisey got his own rebound back on the right side, circled around the back of the goal and found Robinson in the slot for the one-timer.
Two empty-net goals would seal the win for the Nittany Lions. Tommy Olczyk finished off a hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:02 and Curtis Loik added one at 19:37.
Junior Colton Phinney made 39 saves in goal for Princeton as the Tigers fall to 4-9 overall.
Penn State outshot Princeton 45-25, with Skoff stopping 22 shots as the Nittany Lions move to 11-2-3 on the season.
Penn State took a 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring twice in a span of 2:03. Olczyk scored both goals, his fourth and fifth tallies of the year. The first was a redirection off of an Erik Autio shot from the left point that went in blocker side on Phinney as he was screened at 4:19.
With the second-best power play in the nation, Nittany Lions converted on their first opportunity at 6:16, besting the nation’s fourth-best penalty killers. Vince Pedrie whipped a shot towards goal from inside the right circle and Olczyk was on the doorstep to clean it up.
Chase Berger added the Nittany Lions second power-play goal of the game at 10:46 of the middle frame. He stole the puck off a Princeton defender in the left circle and put it past Phinney for the unassisted marker. Berger is the younger brother of Princeton alum Jack Berger ’14.
The Tigers looked to chip away at their deficit when Kenny Brooks was served a five-minute major for checking from behind and a game misconduct at 14:39. Freshman Max Veronneau and Kuffner had a nice give-and-go but Luke Juha laid down just in front of Skoff for the block. Princeton continued to chip away on the power play with Veronneau delivering a drive from the left point and senior Mike Ambrosia shooting from the right circle but Skoff stayed clean.
As Penn State tried to clear the puck, a Princeton defender couldn’t control the puck along the left boards and David Glen made him pay the price with a short-handed breakaway goal with 51 seconds to play in the period to give the Nittany Lions a 4-0 edge.
Penn State finished the game going 2 for 3 on the power play, while Princeton was 0 for 3.
The Tigers host the USA Under-18 team in an exhibition game at Hobey Baker Rink on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.