With less than three minutes to play, the tension hung heavily between No. 5 Penn State and no. 14 Arizona State. The crowd stood up, the student area roared for a top-15 upset in the desert but the Nittany Lions Had other plans.
After defender Anthony Dowd was called up for an elbows minor in the two -minute zone in the zone of the Sun Devils, PSU wasted little time. Mac Gadowsky fed Gavin McKenna, who tore a shot in the back of the net, the first of his NCAA career.
McKenna interrupted the victory with a goal and a “Forks Down” Celebration for the fans of the state of Arizona who had not stopped sucking all series.
Related: Penn State, McKenna Roll past Arizona State, 6-3
Head coach Greg Powers now starts the season at 0-2-0, a start that is less than desirable.
“The silver lining is that it is just as good of a team as you will see,” said Powers. “On paper they are perhaps the most talented team in the country.”
The chestnut and gold seems to bounce back after digging a hole during the opening weekend. Here is the summary:
Penn State wipes Arizona State in season opening series
The student part began to stack in, and as soon as the Puck fell, the atmosphere zoomed in Mullett Arena.
In the first period, both teams generated solid opportunities, especially when PSU hit two pipes but could not be converted.
“Five-on-five, I thought we were (the) better team tonight, and we were; that brought us two,” said Powers. “I thought we managed that part of the game incredibly well.”
Short in the second period, during five-on-five game, co-captain Bennett Schimek ASU scored and gave his first lead of the season. Schimek ended with 15 goals last season.
Later in the period, newcomer Sean McGurn Cruz Lucius fed, and he received a past Nittany Lions Netbinder Kevin Reidler to bring the score to 2-0 ASU.
“A good second period, I think we were really good in the second,” said Lucius. “But we have more to look at the things we have to work on. That is more important, closing games.”
A 2-0 lead in the third was not unknown to ASU. On Friday, the Sun Devils then recorded a 3-2 advantage in the last frame stouts four unanswered.
The same happened on Saturday evening, making four consecutive PSU goals possible.
“I think it’s a reset for everyone,” said Schimek. “We will look back and find out what went wrong, and meet each other as a team and tackle those problems and ensure that it does not happen.”
PSU started his comeback with a short goal on Asu’s Power Play-one that ended 0-out-6 in the night.
“They had opportunities,” said Powers. ‘[The] Goalie was really good. I think that’s the honor for that child. He had a really good game, but only the lack of murderer instinct. “
JJ Wiebusch scored shortly thereafter, followed by McKenna’s first NCAA -. With Connor Hasley went to the extra skater, Asu tried to claw back, but Dane Dowiak sealed it late, making it 4-2.
ASU goes to the Ice breaker tournament Next weekend, where it is confronted with Notre Dame and one from Quinnipiac or Alaska Fairbanks. But first the Sun Devils have something to think after a start of 0-2-0.
“We can take away that we can clearly play with everyone, but we are more than moral victories here,” said Powers. “So our boys have to dig deep and find out.”
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