Penn State scoring surge leads Lions to 9-3 win over Lindenwood
The No. 19-ranked Penn State men’s hockey program routed the Lindenwood Lions, 9-3, on Friday night thanks to a hat trick from Jacques Bouquot and another strong game from the “Kid Line”.
The Nittany Lions moved to 7-4-3 for the season after the non-conference win.
Bouquot’s big night
The graduate transfer Bouquot has had a strong college career thus far, but he had a night to remember Friday, scoring his first career hat trick. His first score came midway through the second period on the power play. Similar to his first score, Bouquot’s second came on the power play with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
Bouquot’s third and final goal came with just more than a minute left in the game, when freshman Casey Aman passed up on a good shot for a great shot, as his feed set up Bouquot for the easiest of his three scores.
The assist was Aman’s first career NCAA point.
The freshman class
The Nittany Lions freshman class has been impressive all season, but all five freshmen tallied a point in Friday’s win.
Aman tallied an assist, while Aiden Fink, Matt DiMarsico, Reese Laubach, and Dane Dowiak all scored a goal. DiMarsico had another four-point game, with Fink adding a three-point game of his own.
Kirwan bounces back
After a hot start to the season, junior forward Ryan Kirwan cooled off drastically to start the year.
Kirwan added two scores of his own in Friday’s win, scoring his first goal since October 20th against AIC.
Danny Dzhaniyev, who made his return to the lineup from injury Friday night, was the primary assist on both of Kirwan’s scores.
What’s next for Penn State
The Nittany Lions will take on Lindenwood on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the series finale from Pegula Ice Arena.
