Penn State suffers another sweep, dropping second at Notre Dame
The Penn State men’s hockey program was swept by Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, after their 6-3 loss in the series finale Saturday night. The Nittany Lions lost on Friday, too.
Penn State moves to 10-11-3 on the season, and 2-9-3 in Big Ten play. Penn State is under .500 for the first time this season.
How it happened
Penn State struck first in the game late during the first period in one of the strangest scoring sequences in recent memory.
Reese Laubach scored while charging toward the net, then he skated right into Notre Dame netminder Ryan Bischel. After a long review, Laubach’s goal stood as the puck crossed the line less than a second before he crashed into Bischel.
However, Laubach was given a five-minute major for charging.
Notre Dame would later gain the 5-on-3 advantage after a Jarod Crespo cross-check, which would eventually turn into the equalizer for Notre Dame off the stick of Patrick Moynihan, early in the second period.
That was the first of two goals in the period for Moynihan, and the first of three total scores for the Irish in the second period.
Simon Mack would bring Penn State back to within one score early in the third period, and Penn State would later tie the game off a Notre Dame pass into their own empty net, due to a delayed penalty.
DiMarsico was credited with the score. However, the net was empty because of a Laubach hooking penalty.
Danny Nelson would score on the power play, and the Irish would net two empty-net scores to bring them to the 6-3 final score.
Takeaways
Notre Dame went 3-6 on the power play, including 2-2 in the third period. That can’t happen for this Penn State team.
The Nittany Lions were building momentum with their penalty kill unit. But, Notre Dame took advantage of being up a man. Notre Dame won this game on the power play.
Penn State has just two wins during Big Ten play this season. It went 0-2-2 against Notre Dame on the season.
Remaining conference games on the schedule include Ohio State (4 games), Minnesota (2 away games), Michigan (2 home games) and Wisconsin (2 home games). The Nittany Lions will need to get hot soon. Otherwise, any chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is gone.
What’s next for Penn State
Penn State will host Ohio State next Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Pegula Ice Arena.
